Alice Infected
by DorothyNightingale
Summary: Alice Turing is the victim of a werewolf attack the summer before her first year of Hogwarts. Now, not only will she have to navigate the halls of Hogwarts for the first time but a burning secret lies hidden in her bloodstream. With her perfect sister Emily to live up to and a secret wizarding terrorist organization targeting her family, Alice is in for a difficult year ahead.
1. A Visit from Donovan

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Please read and review- thanks!

Chapter 1: The Visitor

Square jawed Professor Donovan Banks was absolutely delighted to visit his sister and family while visiting London over the summer. He'd spent the last month traveling, collecting memories in the form of moving photographs which he kept in the leather briefcase, always at his side. Whenever Donovan wanted to remember something he pulled out his camera and took a picture of it. In fact, he did this very motion as he approached the Leaky Cauldron while searching for a bus stop. It had been far too long since Donovan had sipped one of their honey melon teas or cracked open a pumpkin juice, but it was neither the time, nor the season as once he clicked the button and his flash lit the tavern, Donovan was off again.

An inky photograph slid out the top of Donovan's camera and he blew on it as the image appeared. Moving ever so slightly as the breeze snagged the trees, the photograph reflected a memory that Donovan stored in his briefcase as he sat down at the bus stop.

Waiting there was agonizing but since he didn't know exactly where his sister's new house was located, it would be too dangerous to apparate. He tapped his leather shoes not in impatience but in rhythm as an old blue's song struck a chord in his head. This was the song, he realized, that he and Ginger use to dance to on the weekends. He would take her in his arms and sweep her across the floor, her golden hair sweeping out as she laughed. Nowadays, Donovan would do anything to stroke that golden hair again.

With a creak of metal, the bus door slid open and Donovan reached into his pockets for spare change. When he pulled out only sickles, he tensed, before remembering to check his vest. There was always something useful in his vest. Donovan paid the bus driver and took a seat in the back, a few chairs away from an old lady with a round face and dark sunglasses covering her tan, wrinkled skin. Musingly, Donovan put a hand to his scruffy grey almost beard. He hadn't quite made a decision to let it grow out or not so it was just beginning to peek out of his once handsome face.

The bus let out in south London where Donovan traveled to a well off suburb called South Cross. This was where Lucy had said she moved. As Donovan searched for the right address, he heard laughing and playing coming from one of the yards. Outside a stone brick house, there was a basketball hoop set up and two kids were tossing a ball back and forth shouting at each other and trying to score goals. The smaller one was a boy who was blonde and scruffy looking. He shouted up at the older girl who had long dark hair, cascading down her shoulders like a fairy tale mermaid. She looked to be quite a bit older than him, maybe in her mid to late teens.

Donovan recognized them instantly. Although it had been a few months, Emily Turing was one of the most notable students at Hogwarts and was not easily forgotten. She was a natural beauty, the envy of every girl in her year and not the mention one of the brightest young ladies, Donovan had ever taught. Her brother, Henry Turing was eight, and not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts but he knew his face very well.

"Uncle Donovan!" Henry cried as the boy caught sight of the older man. He ran towards the professor with open arms and was scooped up into a hug by his uncle.

"Good to see you Henry my boy," said Donovan, smiling as he looked into the boy's shining face.

Emily, who had stopped dribbling the basketball, now held it firmly in her hands and gave the professor a warm, congenial smile as he approached.

"Good afternoon professor," she said hesitantly.

"Oh please Emily," Donovan said warmly. "You can always call me Donovan. I never ask my niece to call me professor."

"Sorry sir," Emily said.

Donovan laughed and traveled to the door where he was greeted by his sister Lucy. As the door opened, the warm smell of pastries in the oven wafted out onto the streets and the cheery face of Lucy Banks-Turing appeared.

"It's good to see you Donovan," Lucy said, giving her older brother a hug and welcoming him inside.

Lucy Banks-Turing was the mother of three but it hardly showed on her girlish figure. She was certainly very beautiful and had the grace of an heiress but couldn't stop agonizing about even the laugh lines crafted into her aging skin. Her hair was still strawberry blonde and her cheeks, full and rosy but here seemed to be something different though about her, Donovan realized. A line of stress seemed to dictate her angular body and she seemed to be wearing a kind of mask as she closed the door behind him.

The interior of the house was spotless and clean. A staircase spiraled upwards to the children's room and below that was a well equipped kitchen. On either sides of the house however was the solution to the cleanliness of a house. Mountains of moving boxes were still piled high and there were swatches of blue paint on the walls, trying to decide the best color to paint the place. It had only been a month since the Turings had moved in yet they were still nowhere near adjusted to their environment.

"So here's our little troublemaker," Donovan said playfully as Alice Turing, the middle child appeared like a ghost behind the kitchen door frame. She was covered in flour and sugar but that didn't hide her small frame and long, golden blonde hair tucked behind her ears.

Alice Turing had just turned eleven years old and on her birthday a rather odd thing happened. She'd learned how to fly. Unable to control herself, Alice had floated out of the house and hovered in the street for the entire neighborhood to watch.

It was perfectly normal for children who had not yet mastered their magical abilities to have outburst such as this but of course, this was completely inappropriate for muggles to witness. After the ministry modified their memories, it was highly suggested that the Turings find a new place to move into in case something like that where to happen again. Now that they lived in South Cross they were adjacent to four other wizarding families and one squib. Safe from the eyes of the general public.

Alice's aqua blue eyes and snub nose disappeared again without saying anything. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she was again reminded of the burden she'd laid on her family. They'd packed up their entire house before she'd even gotten a chance to apologize for whatever had happened. She still didn't really know what had happened other than flying was probably the best thing in the world. One minute she'd been watching cartoons with Henry and the next she was four feet above his head.

With a ding, the timer went off and Alice's biscuits were ready. She slid on the oven mitts and reached inside, pulling out a tray of oozing hot pastries. There was a rush of noise for a brief moment as she set the tray down on the empty stove to let them cool. As she looked over her long curtain of blonde hair she saw her mother talking to Uncle Donovan. She was distressed, she realized and Donovan was trying to say something comforting. Alice got closer to listen in but the pair at the moment decided to move into another room. Quietly, Alice slinked out to go play with her cat.

Donovan was shaken. As he closed the door to the guest bedroom, his sister Lucy's calm demeanor shattered into fits of anxiety.

"It's Eric," she was saying as she paced to and fro in the white washed silken room. "He's really got us in trouble this time."

Eric Turing worked for the ministry of magic. He was an auror responsible for chasing down the wizarding world's toughest criminals and that job sometimes came with consequences. Last year the entire office had been under constant death threats made by a small band of wizarding terrorists that had swept through London a few times every so often and caused general chaos and loads of paperwork and cover stories for the ministry to uphold. Donovan remembered seeing the headlines of the Daily Prophet and for a while people thought it would never go away but it did. No one knows why though.

"What do you need me to do?" Donovan asked Lucy, reaching into his vest and brandishing his wand.

"I need you to help me protect the children," Lucy said feverishly. "Eric is gone, I've told the children he's on a business trip but he's gone after whatever is threatening to-" Lucy paused, obviously in too much distress.

"What Lucy," Donovan said gently but with urgency. "What is going to happen to the children?"  
"They said they're going to kill them," Lucy murmured and then sat weakly down on the bed.

Across the house, Alice stroked her black kitten's silky head. It purred as it's tail brushed up against her arm and then leaned into a cat like stretch. Alice smiled as Nightlock yawned and exposed her pointy little teeth and then pawed playfully at her flowery shorts. She heard the door open again and the chatter of Henry as Emily put the basketball back in the storage closet. There was more noise as Henry noticed the biscuits were ready and ran towards them before Alice had even had a chance to do the icing. Oh well, Alice thought. At least someone was enjoying them.

Nightlock protested as Alice got up but she made her way up to her room where she kept a writing journal and her new wand from Ollivanders. It had been very exciting to see the famous wand shop and walk down Diagon Alley as a real witch with a real wand for the first time. Her mom had taken her school supply shopping after they'd gotten the letter about a week prior. Though she wasn't legally allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, Alice liked to take out her honey colored wand anyway and run her thumb down the floral carvings in the wood. It made her feel special to know that she now had one of these and it was all her own.

Alice Turing's bedroom was what was to be expected of an eleven year old adolescent such as Alice. It was neat, decorative and colorful yet barren as much of her things were still packed down stairs. On one wall was a window looking out onto the street covered by a shimmery starlight curtain. To Alice's surprise she saw her mother and uncle standing out in the street together with their wands out. Some of the other neighbors had come out to join them and they were casting some kind of magic protection circle around the area. In the distance she saw the sun start to set and wondered if maybe they did this every night and Alice was just never up here to see. After all she had only lived here a month.

When dinner was served there was a tense air about the family in which all three of the Turing children seemed to catch onto. They helped themselves to bread, butter and soup but there were hardly any words spoken between the five of them even with Uncle Donovan who Alice remembered as such a talkative and invested man. It was Emily who broke the silence as she began to pester Donovan to tell her what the 6th year's first semester project would be in Defence Against the Dark Arts. She seemed so persistent about getting it out of him that Alice began to wonder if she was really just trying to impress him before term started. Alice didn't think Emily would really be so thrilled to begin reading her text book early.

Just as Alice scraped the bottom of her bowl there was a sharp rap on the door. Her mom's spine seemed to straighten with anticipation but she put on a placid smile and rose to answer it.

"It's okay Donovan," she said as her the professor rose slightly out of his chair as well. "It's probably just a neighbor."

The neighbors did not come by all too often. The surrounding wizarding families consisted of either toddlers or old couples, no one really in Alice's parents social circle's either. Still, Lucy Turing gracefully swept to the door and looked through the eye hole as if it were St. Nick calling on them with a bag full of toys.

"Donovan," she said straightly, but her voice quivered against her will. There was a moment's hesitation where Alice felt her heart skip and yet was utterly lost. "Get the children!" She screamed and the front door slammed open.


	2. Turings in Danger

Chapter 2: Bravery

A gust of wind blasted Alice in the face as a dark figure loomed in the broken down door frame. Before Alice could get a good look, Donovan had pushed her out of the way and brandished his wand, sending a hex flying towards the door. From underneath the table Alice tried to find her mother somewhere in the adjacent room but she wasn't there. Breathing heavily, she made herself small and squeezed her eyes shut as another blast of magic slammed into the figure by Uncle Donovan. A hand reached out for her in the dark and as Alice opened her eyes she saw the small terrified face of Henry crawling towards her. She grabbed his arm just as another blast rocked the house. There was screaming coming from somewhere, however Alice didn't know where.

"Take your siblings upstairs," Donovan shouted to Emily who was still upright and brandishing her own wand.

"I want to help!" Emily shouted, her long dark hair whipping back in the wind.

"No magic," said Donovan. "I need you to help me keep the children safe. Take them upstairs!"

Another blast came thundering down and Alice heard howling in the distance. There was something coming, something terrifying.

Emily ran over to where her siblings were hiding and helped them stand up. They had to be careful as the main stairwell was kept in the living room and that's where the most danger was taking place. However, there was another way up from the backyard so Emily guided the youngers further back in the house and slammed open the glass, french doors into the night. A chilly summer wind stung them in the face but the three Turing children hardly noticed as they made their way to the loft stairs around back. Alice looked up into her sister's face as she helped boost Henry and saw for the first time a look of raw bravery. She wasn't scared like Alice was, or if she felt it, she didn't let it show. It was just another reason why Emily was so much better than Alice in everyway. Had the roles been reversed, all three Turing children might still be under the table.

As Henry and Alice dashed to the second floor loft, Emily locked the doors behind them. Alice was going to run to her room but Emily grabbed her before she could take off.

"This way," said the brave Emily and took the children into their parent's bedroom.

Emily's joggers padded swiftly over to the door and locked it with a key she took from their dad's desk. She turned around again, her mermaid hair swimming alongside her back and motioned towards the old wardrobe, her mother never seemed to use. Emily put her hand against the frame and said something to the wood as if coaxing it into life. The wardrobe sprung into action and opened up revealing a metal lined container, equipped with food and sleeping provisions.

"Get in," Emily said, scooping up her little brother and motioning for her sister to follow. Alice however was distracted as something in the window had caught her misty, aqua blue eyes. On the ground below there was a black shape moving, pawing at the ground and meowing in distress.

"Nightlock!" Alice cried, tears rushing to her eyes. She ran to the door but Emily stopped her before she could leave.

"Alice, you need to let the cat go," she said. "Your life is much more important. Listen to me, get in the wardrobe."

"No," Alice protested. "I need to save Nightlock!"

Alice couldn't even imagine getting into the metal vault, knowing that her precious kitten was down below in the clutches of danger. She wrestled Emily for the key and jammed it into the lock, throwing open the door just as another ear piercing howl scorched the chilly night.

"Alice stop," Emily was saying as she chased the blonde wisp of a girl down the loft stairs. "Mom and Professor Banks put me in charge of keeping you safe and I-"

"I'm tired of everything being about you," Alice quipped, spinning on her heel and making a statement for once in her life. "I can keep myself safe. I don't need a babysitter."

Alice felt her cheeks flush with red anger and felt like there was electricity zapping her insides. She didn't want her older sister there nagging at her to get inside. For once, she was going to be the brave one and rescue Nightlock on her own.

Desperately, Alice's eyes grazed the field where she'd seen her kitten from the window. Her body trembled as more crashes could be heard from inside the house and her cat was nowhere to be seen. She traced around, searching for a little black shadow while Emily watched defensively silent from the third step of the loft stairwell. It felt as if the very ground beneath her was a ticking time bomb ready to give way if Alice didn't get back inside soon.

Suddenly, a scream escaped her lips as the French doors shattered outwards. Shards of

glass grazed Alice's body and landed in the grass where a painful mrow was yelped by a little shadow nearby. Without thinking or even feeling the pain, Alice ran towards Nightlock just as a giant beast descended upon her.

Alice Turing should have died at that very moment if it had not been for the hex delivered swiftly into the monster's side. A second before, Alice had felt something tear into her skin as she huddled in a protective ball around Nightlock. She didn't remember screaming as the monster engulfed her or crying as it sunk it's teeth into her forearm. All she remembered is that she had been brave and she had been the one to save her cat.

As blackness of Alice's vision and the dark monster rolled off Alice's small body, a singular figure appeared in the quake. Standing tall with a horrified expression and the figure of an angel, was Emily Turing, her wand still smoking with the last effects of the killing curse.

Alice slumped over into the grass, cut by the glass and damaged by the beast. Her older sister ran over and bent down to pick the tiny girl up and bring her inside. Alice's aqua eyes beat open and she saw her sister's perfect face and full lips tight with worry and held strong to her kitten tucked under her undamaged arm. Her vision was dotted with fuzzy black splotches like someone had sprayed ink into her eye sight. Maybe Emily had always looked like this, or maybe Alice was just hallucinating.

Running up the stairs and into their parent's bedroom, Emily placed Alice down on some towels where she was quickly bleeding out. Thinking quickly, Emily opened the wardrobe and had the distraught Henry bring her medical supplies and bandages which she thickly wrapped around Alice's infected arm. Alice was crying, loudly and thick, fat tears exploded from her eyes. She'd never experienced so much pain in her life and as Emily applied the antiseptic, her scream rocked the entire house.

"Shhh, shhh, Alice," Emily said gently, placing a hand to her sister's face. "We don't need Mom and Dad to find out about this."

If Alice had been truly conscious at this time she would have found that odd but at the moment she decided to focus on just one of Emily's chocolate colored eyebrows and put all of her energy into staying alive.

"Alohomora," said a voice from outside the door. Everyone tensed as a click sounded but the door swung open revealing only Uncle Donovan and Lucy Banks-Turing.

Alice's mom screamed upon seeing the blood but Emily quickly stepped in front and kicked a towel over Alice's arm before anyone could see the real loss.

"It's okay mom," Emily said. "We were outside when the doors blew out and she's just cut from the glass. Henry and I are taking care of it."

Lucy and Donovan had been swift to find the children but not before wiping the blood off their own hands. When three monstrous men had appeared at the door one had hexed Lucy's lower leg while Donovan was able to finish off the other one. It was odd though because after fighting them in a firestorm of hexes, they'd run off after one had smashed through the glass doors. Lucy and Donovan had been in such a rush to find the kids after cleaning themselves up that they didn't even notice the dead monster laying the the shadows of the backyard. They were again surprised when the ministry officials showed up so quickly along with some of the aurors. One of the neighbors had called when they heard they heard the French doors shatter.

Someone rang the doorbell respectfully besides the fact that they'd already gone inside and the door was blown off it's frame. Lucy Banks-Turing who was helping remove the small glass shard from Alice's face started to get up.

"Stay here Lucy," said Donovan. "I'll go see who it is."

Cautiously, he dug into his vest pocket for his wand and traveled down the stairwell.

Emily Turing's mind was in fits of worry. Not only was she surely expelled from Hogwarts but any second Alice could move and her arm would be seen by their mom. She bit her fingernails and crossed her arms, watching as her mom put a bandaid on Alice's cheek.

"There," she said. "All better now."

Alice was very dizzy and awfully confused why Emily didn't want her arm to be seen. It hurt very badly and she wanted to see the damage for herself. At this moment, Alice believed that she had only been scratched by whatever had attacked her and didn't know the gravity of anything, especially since she was so light headed.

"I still don't understand why you two weren't in the vault when the doors exploded," Mrs. Banks-Turing was saying to Emily. "I showed you how to get in so that you could protect you siblings in a time like this."

"I'm sorry mom," Emily said but she was cut off from whatever she was going to finish with by a burly ministry man with a bowler hat and a bow tie.

"Miss Emily Turing?" he said, in a small measly voice. "Can I please escort you downstairs?"

Emily's stomach turned as her mother's eyes darted back to her. They were concerned and questioning but accusative all the same. Emily hated seeing her mother upset. Now with a sinking feeling, she realized just how upset she would be when she found out what Emily had done. Calmly, she followed the ministry man down the twisted stairs and tried to keep a cool complexion. Internally through, a million thoughts were racing through her head as she wondered what she would do without her Hogwarts education.

In the ruined parlor, some of the ministry officials were using their magic to tidy and repair broken furniture. Uncle Donovan was sitting in one of the armchairs drinking tea and talking with a middle aged man wearing dark wizarding robes and black glasses. Emily recognized him instantly as her dad's boss; the famous Harry Potter. She'd met him once briefly at the ministry gala last year before she'd really become invested in the history of magic but now that she really knew who he was, she felt even more guilty as she approached.

"Emily, good to see you again," said the auror, setting his teacup down on a recently repaired stool.

He conjured another chair and Emily greeted the man as sweetly as she could. She hadn't expected him to actually remember her so maybe things were already pushing in her favor.

"Emily," Donovan said in a low voice so that the others in the room couldn't head. "Mr. Potter was telling me that at 7:55 tonight, the ministry got a report that an underage witch performed the killing curse at our residence. Is this true?"

Emily entertained the idea of denying the charge but just then she saw two other aurors, carrying the lifeless corpse of the monster that had attacked Alice and looked away in horror.

"You have to understand, the idea of a sixteen year old successfully using the killing curse on a werewolf is practically unheard of," Mr. Potter said. "Not only is it nearly impossible to perfect, but it's immoral as well," he explained. "We're willing to drop the charge in the name of self defence but I want you to start seeing a counselor as well as put in some extra hours with Donovan so that you can learn to use other spells before resorting to death."

"You don't understand," Emily fired back, before she could even register the dropped charge and the continuation of her education. "He had Alice, I didn't have any choice."

At this, Donovan straightened his spine and lowered his voice even deeper so that it was almost a whisper. His pool blue eyes stared deeply but directly at Emily, who trembled in her seat. She hadn't thought through her statement well enough but she was just bursting to tell someone how much danger her sister was in. Now she harshly regretted it and wished she'd just kept her pretty mouth shut. No one could know what had happened to Alice.

"Emily," said the professor, furrowing his brow. "I need you to answer me honestly." Emily swallowed dryly, knowing no amount of charm would stop the question from being asked.

"Was Alice bitten by the werewolf?"

Emily waited. Pausing for a moment so that she didn't respond too quickly. But she shook her pixie like face and told the professor that his idea was impossible. Emily had killed the monster before it had even laid a hand on her sister.

"There are things in place for people in Alice's situation," Harry Potter said, leaning forward in his chair. "If she was bitten, and I'm not saying you're lying, but if that were the case there are medications in place meant to help these people. It's not the end of the world for your sister."

"I'm not lying," Emily shuddered, thinking of nothing else clever or charming to say. She wasn't going to let her sister get exposed as a werewolf. Especially not in front of the head auror, a position notorious for hunting down beasts such as her.

Emily looked up and met the hard gaze of Mr. Potter, a gaze no one dared stare down after defeating the Dark Lord at age seventeen. He nodded his head and then stood up, scooting his chair out behind him with a loud scrape on the floor.

"Alright then. Now that we've discussed the terms of your punishment Emily, I need to get home to my family," Mr. Potter said, shaking Emily's hand. "I'm sorry but it's the softest ball I can throw you. Others would see you in court but I'm letting you go under the condition that you follow through on your promises."

"I'll see that she does," said Donovan Banks nodding firmly.

"Also, I'd like to speak with you privately, sometime in the future," said Mr. Potter, looking quizzically at Emily. He had a look in his eye almost that of fascination. "You are a very bright witch indeed."

"Yes sir," said Emily. "Thank you."

Mr. Potter put on a beige hat and for the slightest moment, his hair parted and Emily saw the legendary lightning scar, lit upon the man's forehead. She felt a bubble of excitement grow inside her for the slightest second as she marveled in the fact that Harry Potter had just given her a very high compliment as well as dropped her charge. A wave of despair quickly extinguished the feeling though as she remembered Alice upstairs. Around them, the workers seemed to have put the room back together and the Turing house looked almost as if it had never been touched. Every book was in it's place, the unpacked boxes were stacked by the windows even Nightlock's litter box was hidden in one corner.

 _I hope the damn cat was worth it_ , Emily thought bitterly as Donovan lead her back up the spiraling staircase.


	3. The Aftermath

Chapter Three: The Ashes

Lucy Banks-Turing stood over a roaring, spitting fireplace, desperately trying to make a connection with her husband, Eric. After all her children had survived the attack with only a cut on Alice's face, she was in tears, frightened it would not be the end of it. Her strawberry blonde hair was piled on her head in disarray and her house mother blue overalls had ashes and scorch marks strewn through them. She was exhausted and shaky, and didn't even remember where Emily had gone, just that she was alive. As she ran her cold, nimbly fingers over her face, she thanked the stars her children were healthy and well.

The last time she'd talked to husband, he'd been in Liverpool, apparently on the tail of an underground organization. Where he really should have been was home, with his wife, defending his children. Had it not been for Lucy's brother Donovan arriving today, Lucy feared she wouldn't have been able to hold off the attackers long enough for her children to make it upstairs. In fact she knew this was true, Donovan was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He'd always been better than her at spells and things.

"Damn it," Lucy said, flicking her wand and extinguishing the flames. A cold chill fell over the room and as she shivered, she happened to look down at one of the white towels Alice had been lying earlier. It was covered in blood. Falling to her knees, Lucy examined the stain, wondering how on earth a simple cut could have caused so much damage. Worried, and possibly hallucinating, Lucy rushed to her daughter's room where Alice was already tucked in bed. Her angel blonde hair spilled out on her pillow like a halo but her aqua blue eyes were open, staring out the window, fixed on something in the distance.

"Alice, honey," her mom said, and Alice turned, revealing Nightlock the cat, wrapped in her arms. She looked scared and worried, her blue eyes were misty and full of loss.

Lucy Banks-Turing put a hand to her daughter's forehead and then sweetly ran it through her hair.

"I'm always here for you, you know that right?" Alice's mom said.

Alice nodded in acknowledgement but didn't say anything in return. She was tired but every time she tried to close her eyes, she imagined the monster man on top of her. Her arm hurt but in a pulsing, sluggish kind of way. She'd put on her long sleeve pigmy puff pyjamas to hide the bandage but Alice didn't really even know why she was trying so hard to hide it, just that the look Emily had given her earlier was enough to know that this was not something that needed a lot of attention.

Mrs. Banks-Turing sat on the edge of Alice's bed for a little while longer, making sure her daughter was calm and sleepy enough to forget the night for at least a little while. She still hadn't figured out where all the blood had come from but she figured if it had been Alice, she would have made much more of a fuss. Before going back to her own room, Lucy checked on her son Henry who was already fast asleep. His light was off and the little boy was wrapped in a lump under his rocket ship blankets. Lucy kissed his forehead and left the room before nearly bumping into Emily who was on her way upstairs. Her waist length wavy mermaid hair was tangled in disarray and she had a distressed look on her angelic features.

"Emily, are you alright?" Lucy asked when her eldest didn't stop after seeing her mom.

"Just leave me alone," Emily said and shut the door to her room before Mrs. Banks-Turing had chance to say anything else.

Emily went straight into her bathroom and shut the door before taking off her summer crop top and high waisted shorts. She looked in the mirror and brushed her teeth before jumping into a very hot shower. As she tried to pour shampoo into her hand she realized just how badly she was trembling. The coconut shampoo was spitting everywhere and Emily didn't know how to stop it. She had actually killed someone. Some- _thing_ , she tried to say to herself, but then what was Alice? On any other night of the month, that thing she killed was an actual person. Why had the words, _Avada Kedavra_ been the first to spring to her mind instead of _stupefy_ , or _petrificus totalus_. Anything else would have worked in getting the beast off her sister, but she had instinctively decided to kill him. What kind of girl would do that?

Emily Turing got out of the shower and washed her face in the fogged up mirror, then put on her fluffiest pajamas and got under the covers. Maybe she'd wake up tomorrow and this would all be a dream. Her sister wasn't a werewolf, and she most certainly was not a murderer.

When the next morning came, Alice who had spent the night in an endless cycle of waking and sleeping rose and got dressed. She put on some jean shorts and had to search for a long sleeve thin shirt that would cover the bandage but wouldn't arouse suspicion in the summer time. When she lifted the bandage however, Alice noticed that the gore was gone and left was only a thick red scar in the shape of some kind of bite mark. She threw the gause away and put the shirt on, brushing out her long blonde hair and tucking it behind her ears.

Alice was the first one down for breakfast and poured herself a bowl of cereal in the newly restored dining area. She liked having the mornings to herself and being the only one awake so she could just enjoy the peace and silence. It wasn't long though before Uncle Donovan appeared from out of the first story guest bedroom already dressed in his scholarly wizarding robes.

"Good morning Alice," said Donovan as he walked over to the coffee maker in the kitchen. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Yes," Alice lied and kept her head down as she ate her cereal.

A speckled news owl popped through one of the open kitchen windows at that moment and laid the Daily Prophet down on the table next to Alice's cereal bowl before fluttering off again. Alice had to read the headline twice before digesting the fact that it was indeed about her.

 _Local Wizarding Family Attacked by Werewolves Last Night;_ read the highlight _._ A picture of her house going up in smoke flashed strikingly on the front page. Quickly, Alice unfolded the newspaper and started to read the rest of the article;

 _Eric Turing, a high profile auror for the Ministry of Magic, has recently put his own family under fire after arresting a member of the Starfire gang. This terrorist organization was notorious for wreaking havoc across London last year up until November when they seemed to disappear for good. Turing however recently caught onto their tail again and arrested one of their top operatives; Helios Star who is currently in Azkaban, awaiting trial. Unfortunately for Turing, the Starfire gang held him under close threats and when Turing could take no more he set out in chase of them. As a result, the wolves were sent after his wife and three kids back at home._

Alice put down the newspaper and tried to digest all the information. Her dad wasn't on a business trip, he was chasing down wizarding terrorists. Terrorists that were after her. Her eyes scanned the page until she found where the article continued.

 _Sending werewolves to infect the target's loved ones, although in modern times is unheard of, was common practice before and during the reign of the Dark Lord. A child would be infected and then likely sent away from the family as they were no longer human or fit to attend Hogwarts before the time of Albus Dumbledore. Nowadays the werewolf population is sharply declining but there are still those who will submit to a terrorist organization such as Starfire to breed more of them and continue their race._

 _As reported by head Auror Harry Potter, everyone in the Turing family is safe and sound. Eric Turing sure is a lucky man._

Alice put down the article and reached up to her arm. There was no way she had been infected was there? She didn't even know how to get infected by a werewolf.

"You alright?" Donovan said, coming into the dining area with his cup of coffee. He raised his eyebrows as he took a sip from the steaming cup.

"Yeah," Alice lied again, dropping her arm and picking up her cereal bowl. She saw Donovan pick up the newspaper as she ducked into the kitchen and hid before she saw his reaction. On the couch she found Nightlock and curled up with the furry kitten where no one could find her.

Upstairs, Emily did not want to wake up, and this time it was more than because there were only two weeks left of summer break. As much as she loved being smarter than everyone in her class, a summer break was relaxing- or was suppose to be relaxing. Now, not only did she have to deal with her little sister turning into a cold blooded killer every month but also how to keep it a secret from everyone else. Not to mention the nightmares.

Last night had been rough. She'd woken up in cold sweat around 6am after having another dream about killing the werewolf, only in this time, her spell had missed and hit Alice. She'd seen her sister fall limp and land on the ground like an unwanted doll. It was her fault, the blood was on her hands and as the next two weeks sputtered by, Emily's nightmare's only grew worse.

By the time school rolled around, Donovan Banks was still staying with his sister. She needed him there at all hours in case anything terrible were to ever happened again. He set up a desk in the guest bedroom even after Lucy offered him Eric's office and there he made his lesson plans and ordered the kits he needed to teach his classes. After a day's work Donovan would leave his room after dinner for evening tea and he would see Lucy by the fire, still trying to make contact with her lost husband. All that stared back at her were the glowing talons of of the molten embers.

The Turing children were not the same after the attack. Henry stopped playing basketball outside and Alice hardly breathed a word in between then and the start of school. Emily was always in her room and Donovan worried deeply for the child's mental health. A kind of depression seemed to have molded itself onto the teenage witch's face and she no longer quizzed the professor over every little lesson he would cover in the coming semester. She'd become more serious and defensive, hardly even coming down for meals at this point. Mr. Potter was right in the way that this child would benefit greatly from a form of counseling.

Donovan had hardly taken any photographs since he'd arrived and felt poorly about his lack of motivation. His brown leather briefcase drooped solemnly off the edge of his bed and he'd arranged his various photographs on his duvet one night after he was afraid he'd forgotten something.

There was one photograph in particular that was Donovan's most treasured possession. It

was an old photo of him, when his hair was still black. He was dancing with a beautiful golden haired girl dressed all in white. She had been stunningly beautiful the day of their wedding. In the photo he was holding her in his arms while they danced and smiled at the camera. It had been so long ago that Donovan had forgotten who had taken the photo just that this was the most beautiful image of Ginger, just before her health had declined.

Upstairs the Turing sisters were busy packing while Henry bounced his basketball mindlessly against the wall. Alice had hardly seen her sister since the night of the attack, she been so shut in, but now she emerged from her bedroom, and waited in Alice's doorway.

"Needy help packing?" she offered, watching as Alice tried to cram another textbook into her already over full trunk. "Here," Emily said, grabbing a set of robes. "It helps to have these on top so that you can change into them once you get on the train."

"Thanks," Alice said, piling her dark wizarding robes on top of everything else.

Emily helped Alice sit on top of her trunk to close it and laughed when she almost slid off. She noticed next to it was a little black carrying cage for Nightlock that already had her name engraved on it. Flipping back her wavy mermaid hair, Emily peeked inside at the little kitten who was already sprawled out on a velvety cushion. It hissed at her unpleasantly.

"You really love that cat don't you," said Emily, stepping back a foot.

"Yeah," said Alice softly, not looking up from where she was folding her socks.

Emily tried to think of something to say, but what was someone suppose to talk about with a shy girl like Alice? She didn't want to address the arm but she new she had to at some point.

"Is it healing?" Emily asked casually as she pulled her hair up into a messy bun.

Alice passively ripped her sleeve up revealing a thin red scar engulfing her forearm.

"Healed," she said and pulled the sleeve back down. Alice didn't want to talk about the night either. Every night she was having flashbacks to that very moment and the only thing managing her intense anxiety was the journal she kept underneath her wand box which she now took and packed in the top compartment of her trunk. Emily was no help, she moped in her room all day while Alice tried to research werewolves on her own time. So far it didn't seem to be in any first year curriculum.

"You know I only don't want others to know because I care about you, right?" Emily said, sitting down on the edge of Alice's bed.

Alice looked away, not wanting to meet her sister's eye. "What's happening to me?" she asked, her little voice trembling as the words tumbled out. She'd been holding in that question for too long but was almost to scared to hear the answer. Emily was smart, she knew exactly what was wrong. So did Alice, but she didn't want to believe it yet.

"You were bitten by a werewolf, Alice," Emily said. "Which means you now become one."

Alice didn't move. She'd known this was coming, it was just difficult to hear. With all the postings in the newspaper about old werewolf stories, Alice knew Emily's secrecy could mean no other alternative. She was different now. Not even human. She had become the monster from her nightmares and now, maybe one day she too would be shot down by a teenage witch defending her sister. It was a vicious cycle.


	4. Aboard the Hogwarts Express

Chapter 4

On the first day of term, Alice got out of bed and slid a brush through her wispy golden hair before pulling it back in a pony tail. She put on her nice pleated skirt and blazer, looking in the mirror before she went downstairs for breakfast. Surprisingly Donovan had beat her in being the first person up and was already flipping pancakes at the stove. He was in a jolly mood and was whistling a familiar tune that made Alice smile a bit after such a tormenting night of scary thoughts.

"Don't you look lovely today Alice," said Donovan with a grin. "Shall it be three pancakes or four?"

"Four," said Alice, feeling her belly ache.

Donovan made sure to bath the pancakes in syrup before handing them over to his niece who looked a little spooked, but from what, Donovan couldn't tell.

"You're all packed up I hope," Donovan said, flipping another pancake in it's pan. "I'll

be taking you and your sister to King's Cross Station this morning."

"Mum's not coming with us?" Alice asked, hardly expecting a positive answer. She should have suspected her mother wouldn't be coming to see her off for her first year of Hogwarts. The past few weeks she seemed to have gone positively and alarmingly obsessed with staring into fireplaces and placing telephone calls which were practically unheard of in the Turing home. Alice was very worried.

"Afraid not," Donovan said as he checked his broad-faced watch. "It's getting late. I better go wake your sister up," he said and mounted the stairs leaving Alice alone.

In the kitchen mirror, Alice checked her hair again. Little wisps of blonde always came untucked from her ponytail throughout the day and she wanted to look nice for the train ride. Unfortunately this would prove to be nearly impossible, for as she soon learned, King's Cross Station was not a simple carriage ride through the park.

Emily came downstairs wearing a bright blue, body conforming sun dress and sandals. She was already prepared to depart and needed no help with her trunk since Uncle Donovan enchanted it to float behind her out the door. Standing up, Kim straightened her hat and caught Nightlock as the kitten leaped into her arms. She followed her sister out the door where Donovan was busy loading their luggage into their mother's minivan and dug into her plaid blazer pocket for her wand.

The two Turing sisters hardly talked as uncle Donovan drove them to the train station. There was a lot to talk about but not much to be said. Emily could tell Alice what to do in a week when the full moon rose or help her cope with the idea of no longer being human. She could even calm her nerves about being a first year at a new school and remind her what it was like on her first day, but Emily's mind was too far away. She was tired, and moody. Her hair wasn't as bouncy as she'd wanted it to be and her dress had already been seen before by her friends when they hung out over the summer. As she watched South Cross hills roll by she kept her mind as far and distant from her sister as she could.

Pulling up to the station, Donovan grabbed a cart for his nieces and slung his leather briefcase over his shoulder. Before they went inside, Donovan pulled out his camera and made the girls stand in front of the terminal. Emily wrapped an arm around Alice and gave her a big bear hug and smile as Donovan clicked the picture. It was the first time he'd seen either of the girls smile in a long time and as he let the photograph develop, he noticed how strikingly photogenic they both were.

"Let me see," Emily said, resting her chin on Donovan's shoulder as she peered at the photograph. "Aren't we attractive," she said to Alice who didn't smile upon seeing the developed photo. She thought her teeth looked too far apart and her hair was too curly. Reaching up, Alice tucked a loose whisp behind her ear.

Inside the train station it was very noisy. People were going every which way and no one was stopping or slowing their pace. The sound of train whistles could be heard in the distance and the floor had an overall rattling sensation that unnerved Alice and made her knees buckle. Around them, the air had a sickly sweet scent like someone had infused artificial sweetener into the ventilation system. She was reminded of this when she saw a little girl ahead blowing a big bubble of pink chewing gum and then popping it in her mouth. Alice wondered where that little girl was going. Maybe she too was on her way to school.

After fitting through the turnstiles, the Turing girls and Professor Donovan pushed their cart to the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Alice had been through the barrier before to see Emily off several times and she felt that uncomfortable squeeze as she plopped through on the other side like jello. However, on the wizarding side, the small girl's heart really started to pick up. She felt her insides being wound tighter and tighter as she, Emily and the professor fought their way through the crowds of wizards gathered to see their children off. All of a sudden Alice felt as if she was being pushed further and very quickly towards a cliff edge and as soon as she got on the train she would fall.

Alice stopped walking and just stared up at the enormous black steam engine that puffed out thick black smoke and roared it's pipe. She was not ready for this. She was too scared. Alice wasn't even human what was she doing about to get on a train for wizarding school? She should give up now and go home.

In the crowd, Alice had lost Emily but Donovan reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her to reach her level.

Alice nodded and looked back at the steam engine. It was terrifyingly obvious that if she ever wanted to be brave, she would have to get aboard that train.

"I'm fine," Alice said and grabbed her heavy trunk off the cart as well as Nightlock's carrying cage. She stumbled backwards with the extra weight and Donovan helped her carry it on board the train.

Inside, things were even more jampacked as students of all ages passed through the carts, looking for a compartment to sit in. Alice assured Donovan that she didn't need anymore help and took the trunk from him as well as Nightlock's cage.

"I'll be in the administrator's cart at the front if you need me," said Uncle Donovan with a wink before leaving Alice alone aboard the Hogwart's Express.

Dragging her trunk and Nightlock's cage through a narrow corridor was no easy task, especially when older, scary kids were trying to get by. Some of them were already in their wizarding robes while others wore muggle outfits like Alice. She was quickly embarrassed though when she realized how much nicer dressed she was than everyone else. Reaching up, she took her nice cap off and shoved it in Nightlock's cage for the time being.

Finally, Alice was able to find an empty compartment, or at least she thought she had. She'd rushed to open the door and get out of the aisle before seeing the boy lounging on the other side of the compartment, but by that moment it would be rude to turn away.

"Hi," Alice said as the boy looked up. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure," said the boy sitting up from where he'd been lying. He had dark tousled hair and hazel eyes that seemed distracted by the crowd outside. As Alice sat down and took her hat out of her kitten's cage, the boy put his feet back on the seat he was sitting on and started tapping his fingers on the window sill impatiently.

"I wish the train would just start already," said the boy, dropping his arm from the window and scratching his cheek.

Alice didn't say anything and pulled her knees up to her chin. She ran her hand across her ears slightly to pull back any stray wisps and noticed that the boy was looking at her curiously.

"Are you a first year too?" he asked while still scratching his cheek.

Alice nodded and the boy looked delighted.

"That's excellent," he said. "I'm Peter by the way. What's your name?"

"Alice," said Alice quietly.

Peter put his feet down and started jogging his leg. He was wearing jeans which was odd for the summer time and a short sleeve shirt that had some kind of guitar print on it. The motion then transferred from his leg to his foot which he tapped fervently on the ground. As Alice watched, she wondered how he could move around so much yet sit still at the same time.

"You don't talk much do you," said Peter, giving Alice another look. Alice shyly looked away and opened Nightlock's cage just before Peter noticed. "No way you've got a cat!" He exclaimed. "You're so lucky."

Peter rushed over and Nightlock shrinked back instantaneously as he boldly starting petting the black kitten. Nightlock calmed down though after a few pats and Peter relaxed as well as the train started moving.

"Thank goodness," he said, sitting back down in his seat. "We were in the station for ages."

Alice cuddled her kitten while she watched Peter pick idly at the red fibers on the seat cushion. The cabin was well furnished, while a little worn, and had a nice rustic feel to it. As the train entered a dark tunnel, Alice felt every bump and train track beneath her and looked out the window in comfort as they tunnel disappeared revealing rows of little green trees below them. Peter on the other hand had found something else fascinating.

"If we're only allowed to do magic at hogwarts, and this is the Hogwarts express," he said. "Then I must be allowed to use magic now!"

 _Do you even know how to use magic,_ Alice wanted to say but instead she watched in mild fascination as Peter took out his wand and pointed it at an apple he took out of his bag.

"Abracadabra!" he shouted and pointed the wand at the apple.

Nothing happened.

"I don't think that's a real spell," Alice said, suppressing a smile.

"It is too a real spell," Peter insisted. "Abracadabra," he said again and likewise, nothing happened. "Maybe my wand is broken," Peter said sighing and putting the wand back into his bag. "Want an apple?" he asked Alice and tossed her the fruit before she could say no.

In truth, Alice was pretty hungry. She thanked him and took a bite, reveling in the juiciness of the fresh red apple. As she ate, Peter reaching into his bag and pulled out a plastic zip lock of strange looking miniature candies. They were all brightly colored circles and mixed together inside the container.

"What are those?" Alice asked, cocking her head to one side.

"You don't know what m&ms are?" Peter asked in disbelief. "What kind of life have you lead if you haven't eaten m&ms before? Here take some."

Peter reached the bag across and Alice took a small handful.

"They taste like chocolate," she said after trying a few.

"Yeah, they are chocolate, they just cover them in some kind of candy shell I think," said Peter, dumping a bunch of them in his mouth so that his cheeks puffed up. "Good, see," he said through a mouthful of m&ms.

Alice seemed to recall seeing something about these candies on TV one time. They were a muggle treat, which, coupled with Peter's complete lack of knowledge on how spells work, could mean only one thing; Peter was muggle born.

"My dad's in the army," Peter explained to Alice a little later on, "and my mom is a nurse. Pretty perfect jobs for any parents if we were still living in the 1930s."

Alice didn't really know what he was talking about but listened to Peter any way as he explained about his parents finding out he was a wizard and how willing his mom was to send him off to some strange magic school. He of course, also wanted to know what growing up as a witch was like but Alice didn't say much in return. This of course, only made Peter more curious about the pretty blonde girl as the train rattled on.

When the Hogwarts Express finally came to a halt, Peter had been pressed against the window for the past 10 minutes. As soon as he'd caught sight of the castle, he'd glued himself to the sight and now wouldn't be moved. Earlier, Alice had changed into her wizarding robes and felt even a little braver, looking in the mirror and seeing herself as a Hogwarts student. She re-tucked her hair in a ponytail and stood up straight. Her robes were still plain black unlike the other students but after she and Peter returned to the carriage, they were both dressed the same.

"First years," someone was calling. "First years this way."

Peter and Alice got up and someone came along to grab their trunks. She resisted at first, afraid something terrible would happen to Nightlock, but the baggage people insisted on taking the cat while she went with whoever was calling her.

"Come on," Peter said, flashing Alice an excited grin as he pushed through the aisles in front of her.

Peter and Alice were among the first ones out of the train and were herded over to a giant looking man with a wild mane and gruff voice. Above her stood the Hogwarts castle; Alice's new school and home for the next seven years. The building was magnificent and stood tall like beacon of light, shining upwards towards the heavens. She was completely awestruck by the sheer size of Hogwarts. It was the biggest castle Alice had ever seen. Each dome was ancient and exquisite like she was visiting the queen on a Sunday afternoon for tea, yet reminded her of a strong soldier that could be hard like a rock, when it needed to.

Hagrid was the name of the giant man. He wore kind of dirty clothes and had a jolly sized belly with a belt around it. The man's wild beard and hair was jet black, except for a few grey streaks and he laughed a lot as he talked to other students passing by.

"Alright first years, listen up," said Hagrid turning to the large group that had formed. "I'm gonna be takin' ya across the lake so you all better come with me now. That's it, come along."

Hagrid lead the first years to a dock where several enchanted boats sat patiently in the water. "In you go," he said and ushered the children in. "Four to a boat."

Alice sat down at the front of a wooden boat and Peter sat right behind her along with two other first years she didn't know. Once everyone was seated, the boats began to move on their own, much to Alice's surprise. She let out a small shriek before shutting her mouth and bravely looking out at the misty castle ahead. Below her, the water was inky blue but occasionally a fish or some other creature would swim near the surface and startle her so it was better to look out than down anyway.

About half way through the lake, Alice felt a cool breeze tug at her blond pony tail and felt a rush of enjoyment after being scared for so long. She looked back at Peter and smiled, throwing her arms out like a bird and feeling the wind pick up around her. For a moment in time Alice felt happy. Everything about the bite, the attack, the water below, didn't scare her anymore. She was a bird on the water and the fish should be afraid of her. Still, the boats traveled on approaching the dock and soon Alice's fantasy would be over.

Although Alice was reluctant to leave the boat, there was a new worry that had settled in. Any minute now, she and the other first years would be paraded into the Great Hall and Alice would have to try on the sorting hat in front of the entire school. Not only would she have to face hundreds of people alone in a silent hall, but her sister would hardly ever see her if she wasn't put in her house. Alice prayed they would somehow skip her name.

Hagrid's big boots clomped along the stone exterior of the hallway and stopped in front of two big wooden doors.

"Alright first years," said Hagrid. "I'll see you around."

Hagrid pushed against the great wooden doors and they swung open ceremoniously with a loud, fateful creek.


	5. Alice has a Feast

Author's Note: Hi everyone, sorry I haven't made a note yet! Thanks for reading my story and if you've gotten this far extra special thanks because you're already on like page 40 of a google doc. Im 16 years old and LOVE Harry Potter. I hope you love them as much as I do. Leave me a comment below and I'll respond as soon as I can. Thanks everyone.

Chapter Five: The Feast

Alice swiveled her head, searching for Emily in the sea of black robes while also trying to stay close to the center of the group. After no luck of finding Emily, Alice caught the twinkling eye of Uncle Donovan who was sitting at the head table as they approached the podium at the front. She was relieved to see him and gave her uncle a little wave as she approached. A kind looking old lady in velvet green robes presented an old shoddy looking hat on a pedestal right before her and had the first years gather around it. Alice hadn't expected it to look so old. Had it been human, she would have imagined it to be a wrinkly old man well past a hundred.

"Welcome," said the hat, startling Peter. "To another year of Hogwarts."

The room erupted into thundering cheers causing Alice to immediately clap her hands over her ears to cover the startling noise. Above her, she stared up at the enchanted sky of the dining hall and focused on a single candle, glowing in the inky blackness of the evening sky. When the students were done cheering, everyone sat down, including the first years who sat on the floor in front of the head table. Peter tried to move to the front and beckoned Alice to follow him but she insisted on staying in the middle of the crowd. She did not want to be seen by the scary old hat.

The kindly old lady dressed in green from before turned out to be the headmistress, Irene Carlyle. She was very old and had little age splotches splattered all around her tight leathery skin that folded back on high cheekbones when she smiled. She quieted the room again and then pulled out a very long scroll which she proceeded to unravel.

"Abilene Alabaster," said Professor Carlyle with a shrill and steady voice that pierced through the room like an arrow.

The first years looked around, wondering what to do before a little black haired girl rose and trembled over to the stool where the hat was sitting.

"Go on dear, try it on," said Carlyle, waving her bony hands at the girl and ushering her into the seat.

Abilene sat down and put the hat on. It sat on her head for a moment, and seemed to shrug and bend for a moment before opening its brim and shouting; "Hufflepuff!"

A long yellow table towards the middle of the Great Hall erupted into cheers as the black haired girl was lead over to them. The applause quickly died however, after Irene Carlyle directed everyone's attention onto the next first year. By the time the professor was on the ninth child and the first year crowd had grown measurably smaller, Alice was practically hyperventilating. What if the hat didn't sort her and instead shouted "Werewolf!" or what if she tripped on her way to the pedestal. Then she'd be forever known as the first year who made a fool of herself.

"Peter Evans," said Professor Carlyle after the last boy took a seat.

Peter flashed Alice a smile before running up to the pedestal and slipping on the hat. He was smiling while he sat there in front of the entire school, revealing one top tooth much bigger than the other. The hat took a while to sort him and as Alice waited in anticipation, she tapped her fingers fervently on the ground as she'd seen Peter do on the train. Around her, the school had gotten very quiet.

"Hufflepuff!" erupted the hat and again the yellow table towards the center shattered into applause as Peter rocketed towards the group.

Alice curled her knees up under her chin and tried to ground herself by tracing the lines of stone in the cold floor. She hadn't expected Peter to be placed in that house but at the time she'd barely noticed he was gone. When Professor Carlyle at last called her name, Alice was one of the only few left and didn't hear her name being said.

"Is there an Alice Turing?" Carlyle asked and this time Alice stood up.

Everyone in the room suddenly was staring at her and Alice didn't know how to take it. She considered running out of the room but instead she turned her back and walked shakily over to where the professor was holding out the old hat. Alice felt like she was going to faint. What if when she took the hat from Professor Carlyle, she turned it over and vomited into the ancient relic. It was only the encouraging look of Uncle Donovan at the head table that kept her going. Alice knew the sooner she put on the hat, the sooner the professor would move onto the next kid.

Alice sat down and the Professor dropped the old hat on top of her golden blond head just after she reached up and tucked in her wisps. A sort of darkness enveloped Alice's mind but unlike she would expect, Alice was oddly calm. For a few moments, she felt like the hat was rummaging through her mind like a storage bin and then it began to speak to her.

"Another Turing I see," said the hat as it continued to shuffle things around. "There's lots of good content in here. My, you've had a rough few weeks."

Alice grimaced and began to pray the hat might glance over her overall shakiness. She imagined herself rescuing Nightlock and hoped that the hat would see what she was thinking. The memory in her mind continued to play however and Alice saw the wolf, the monster, everything terrifying and hellish but the hat seemed to have moved on. It was mumbling something about a dislike of kittens.

"Alright, alright," said the sorting hat in her mind then outloud, "better be Gryffindor!"

Alice's eyes snapped open as the hat was lifted off her head and as the whiteness and fear cleared her vision she saw a maroon and gold table cheering loudly for her on one side of the dining hall.

Shakily Alice wobbled up, almost unable to process what had just happened. The hat had listened to her, she was a Gryffindor now and everything she'd thought before was wrong. As Alice approached the red table, her sister who was sitting with her friends near the front gave her a high five. She too looked very surprised by the result. Alice sat down at the other end of the table and one of the older students threw her a maroon and gold tie that she put on and tucked under her gray vest. Something felt wrong though, like she had deceived the hat. There was no way Alice truly deserved to be a Gryffindor.

The rest of the sortings flew by and soon everyone had taken a seat at one of the four long tables. Professor Carlyle, all dressed in green, strode over to the podium and welcomed the students. They all applauded with great vigor which made Alice think they all must really like the old professor. Alice wondered how long the woman had been a teacher here seeing that she seemed to outrank all of the other staff members.

"I'm glad to see so many new faces this year," said the woman. "And of course I love watching all you older kids grow up into responsible adults." She chuckled to herself.

Alice listened quietly to the rest of the headmistresses welcoming speech but little did she actually take in. Her mind had fluttered over to Peter who was sitting at the Hufflepuff table with a yellow tie on. When he caught her eye he waved excitedly and Alice shyly returned the gesture. He had been chattering excitedly to two other boys in his house and drummed wrestle less on the empty silver plates put out before the feast.

Her whole life Alice had always expected to be put in Hufflepuff, now that she'd actually made it into the brave Gryffindor, she felt like an imposter. She wasn't brave, she was just lucky. Alice had probably only been put here because that's where her sister belonged and the sorting hat had listened to her. Discouraged, Alice tucked in her blonde wisps and put her head down without caring as Professor Carlyle finished her speech and a giant feast bloomed to life in front of her.

The Gryffindor table tucked into the meal, grabbing at chicken legs, pouring gravy and fighting each other over the last breadcrumbs. Across from her, two other Gryffindor first years chattered noisily back and forth and from what Alice could pick up, they both seemed to have met on the train. She remembered seeing them earlier as they got on the boats to cross the lake with Hagrid. One had long, silky black hair and grey eyes while the other had dark skin and wore glasses. They talked for a long time before the dark skinned girl saw Alice.

"Hi what's your name," she said turning to the small blonde girl across the table. Alice responded and the black girl smiled, revealing a row of clear braces. "Nice to meet you Alice, I'm Serena," she said and reached a hand across which Alice shook.

"Rowan," said the other girl with a wave.

"Where are you from?" Serena asked, leaning in a little so she could hear.

"London," said Alice shyly.

Serena smiled again, replying that she too was from London. Rowan on the other hand, didn't say anything. Her dark eyes were scanning the room like a clever fox, about to descend upon it's prey. She looked distressed, but focused at the same time. When the feast cleared and the desserts were brought out she had hardly said a word after Serena started talking to the little blond girl across the table. Alice, on the other hand was very overwhelmed. She'd hardly touched the feast and now had lost her appetite for sweet things. Serena seemed to be the only one who didn't have her mind snagged on something else.

When the welcoming feast was over, the room turned to chaos as voices got louder and people stood up. Alice heard the Gryffindor prefect, Mallory Marsh, calling everyone together but it took quite a bit of time to round everyone up and get them out into the castle. Rowan and Serena, Alice's new acquaintances stuck close together and Serena welcomed her to walk with them. The two of them however, began chattering to some other first year girls as the begin to ascend a moving staircase and Alice felt a little forgotten.

The Hogwart's castle was very confusing to Alice who didn't understand why the staircases had to move so much. Why didn't they just stay in place and make things simpler? She wouldn't mind having extra staircases to climb if it meant memorizing the map wouldn't be so hard. Not to mention, by the time the Gryffindors made it to a large portrait picturing a rather large lady sipping wine, Alice had already forgotten every turn.

"Sliverworm," said Malloy Marsh to the fat lady who sang some rude remark and then swung open. "Remember the password first years," said the thin nosed, dark haired Mallory. "It won't do you any good to sleep outside the portrait."

Alice tucked that word into her brain and followed everyone into a brightly lit room where a crackling fire pit roared over a warm wash of scarlet tapestries and furniture. The golden body of a lion stood strong opposite her, woven into an ancient work of art. It was the only picture in Hogwarts Alice didn't see moving about. She stared at the lion until somebody pushed her accidently and made room for everyone else.

Everyone fanned out, some made themselves right at home by falling into the ruby couches and kicking their feet up where as most split into boys and girls and went to their dormitories. Alice followed Serena and Rowan upstairs with the other girls into a long room consisting of tall four poster beds with scarlet drapings. With a burst of excitement, Alice saw her precious Nightlock sitting in her carrying case on one of the beds as well as her trunk at the foot of it. She ran over to cuddle her kitten and noticed that Rowan went to the bed next to it.

"Don't leave me out," said Serena, dragging her trunk over to the foot of the empty bed next to Rowan.

Alice sunk down into the mattress. It was surprisingly soft and comfortable and she wanted to fall right asleep but just then a familiar face appeared.

"Hey," said Emily, appearing over Alice's bed with a sly smile. "What is my brave little sister doing in Gryffindor?"

Alice sat up, a little saddened by the fact that her sister had to point that out but she greeted her with a hug.

Emily looked so mature in her black robes and red and gold tie. Her long hair had been braided around her head like a halo and not a single wisp stuck out of place.

"The bathrooms are over there, if you want to change into your pajamas," Emily said, pointing to a corner of the room. "It will be lights out in about an hour so I suggest doing it soon."

Alice nodded and grabbed her pink pygmy puff pijamas to change into. She didn't speak much to Serena and Rowan but shyly said goodnight as she slipped into bed. When her blonde head hit the pillow and the lights shut off, Alice was asleep almost before she could could kiss her kitten goodnight. It was a peaceful night of rest at Hogwarts.


	6. Classes Begin

Chapter Six: The Classes Begin  
Alice woke up in a very comfortable bed and almost went back to sleep before remembering where she was. Nightlock squirmed in her arms and she sat up startled as she realized most people were already getting dressed. Shyly, Alice went to the bathroom to change into her robes instead of changing out in the open like everyone else. In the stall, as she pulled on her black overcoat, she realized that last night, a red and gold Gryffindor emblem had been emblazoned over her heart on the cloak. As she looked in the mirror and saw the tie and emblem, there was no denying Alice was in Gryffindor, whether she was meant to be or not.

Alice braided her hair down her right shoulder just as Serena appeared in the bathroom to brush her teeth. She wasn't wearing her glasses yet and squinted as she looked in the mirror.

"Oh hi Alice," Serena said, seeming to only just realize Alice's presence. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded. "Did you?"

Serena nodded and brushed her teeth vigorously. She learned forward to check her clear braces and then rinsed her mouth out again.

"See ya at breakfast," Serena said and dashed out of the bathroom.

Alice and the other Gryffindors headed down for breakfast, some with sleep still in their eyes and others bursting with excitement. After learning that they had Defence Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon, Alice fell somewhere in the middle. She was excited to start her first day at Hogwarts but she also felt a heavy dread sinking in her stomach as she remembered she was one day closer to the full moon. Emily still hadn't told her what to do when that happened and she knew she'd need a plan of escape. Turning into a wild beast in the girl's dormitory didn't seem like a liable option.

Alice sat in the Great Hall for breakfast next to Serena and Rowan. She didn't say much, but Serena chattered a lot to Rowan and some other kids sitting nearby. Serena had apparently had a dream where the Hogwarts stairs had turned into escalator's and the portraits on the wall all become her mom and dad. Some kids thought that was funny. As Alice soon learned, Serena was a half blood and her mom had been in Gryffindor when she was in school. Her dad was a muggle and they'd met on a buddhist retreat in India. He was from America.

After breakfast, Alice and the others went to Herbology which was out in a greenhouse somewhere outside the castle. It took Alice a very long time to find it since Serena and Rowan had left without her and she was afraid she'd be late but she made it just as a tall, masculine teacher walked in carrying a cardboard tray of strange plants. This, Alice soon learned, was Professor Longbottom.

"Where did you go?" Serena asked, as Alice took a seat next to her and Rowan. "We were looking for you after breakfast."

Alice blushed, muttering something about looking for them as well but she'd clearly seen them walk off together and supposed they'd rather be alone than go with her.

Professor Longbottom gave each pair of two a potted plant and since Serena and Rowan were paired together, Alice was stuck with a Gryffindor boy whose name was Alex Mycroft. Alex was tall for his age and had a buzz cut and narrow eyes. He didn't talk much to Alice who did most of the work as Professor Longbottom instructed them in how to lift their plants and replant them into larger growing pots. That was okay with Alice. She didn't want to talk much either.

After Herbology, the Gryffindor first years had charms with a very strange looking professor. He was tall and unearthly pale, wearing dark robes and a red choker. His name was Professor Hogan and he sent chills up Alice's spine. No one else seemed to mind him though as he handed out a syllabus to everyone and went over the textbook pages they'd need to read before the next class. Alice found charms awfully boring.

Lunch brought a new kind of stress for Rowan Avery who had previously been successful in avoiding her cousins across the hall. Now, Mia and Tom approached her with syphoning sneers and snickers. She felt her stomach cheech and her steely grey eyes dropped to the floor as they walked over. Both of them were tall and fit, with black hair like Rowan but brown eyes instead of grey. Even though they were two years older than her, Rowan hated their guts.

"What are you doing in Gryffindor, Roachan?" Tom asked, using Rowan's dreaded nickname.

"It's where I belong, unlike you two dung beetles," Rowan deflected.

Twins, Mia and Tom laughed at her and and snaked along by before Tom stopped, and called back to her. His voice was high and nasally, like he was trying to be a snob."Uncle Marvolo is going to kill you when he finds out, you know," he said and this time, he didn't laugh.

Rowan felt a chill prickle her spine as she painfully remembered the abuse their uncle had given her before. As the only one in her entire family to ever not be put in Slytherin, Rowan knew she'd be in trouble as soon as the other Averys got word of it. She reached into her robe for the comfort of her holly wand and clasped it tightly in the palm of her sweaty hand. There'd be danger in her future and now, there was nothing she could do about it.

After lunch, Alice was very excited to go to her first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with the Hufflepuffs. She buzzed quietly down the hall with Serena before the other girl grabbed her arm and they ran down the hall together. Alice's hair whipped back and she laughed louder than she'd ever dared to as the girls stopped in front of the classroom. Breathlessly, Alice turned to Serena and laughed some more. A couple of older students gave them judgmental stares but Alice didn't even care. Happily, Alice skipped into the classroom and sat down near the back with Serena.

Rowan was a little late to class and sat right behind Alice and Serena who were busy talking about the charms they'd just learned. She wasn't in a good mood, but she attempted to make conversation if not to clear in mind then to not be forgotten by the two of them. After all, the increasingly popular Serena was her friend first.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was very colorful due to the schools of paper fish that were enchanted to swim through the air. Above Alice's head, a wave of rainbow fish diverged and separated into the respective colors. She smiled at them as one wiggled away and started swimming slowly towards her. On the chalkboard in front, there were sketches being drawn in mad air of magical creatures and diagrams. Uncle Donovan was sitting at the front desk wearing his scholarly robes and gave her a wink as he called the class to attention.

"Hey Alice!" said a boy's voice. Alice turned around to see Peter passing by, running to get to a seat in time. "What's up?"

"Quiet class, please take a seat," Donovan said to Peter who was the only one talking at that moment. Peter's ears turned red and he scrambled into a chair a few rows in front of Alice. "My name is Professor Donovan Banks," said Uncle Donovan. "And I'll be your Defence Against the Dark Arts instructed for the next seven years."

Uncle Donovan then threw a stack of course syllabuses into the air and with the flick of his wand, they all drifted to each person's desk. Some applauded.

"Now then," Donovan said, pointing to the chalkboard where a diagram began to sketch itself out. "As you can see, the first dark magic we will be discussing is a favorite among my older students. They're called Sirens. If you turn to page 24 in your textbooks, you will see a picture of one."

Alice cracked open her book and flipped to the right page. A picture of the most beautiful woman Alice had ever seen bloomed to life on the page reminding her eerily of Emily.

"Not to be confused with the Veela," Donovan continued, "Sirens are known for their ability to shapeshift into the thing we most desire."

Although Donovan's lecture was very interesting, Alice was disappointed because by the end of the lesson they hadn't actually witnessed anything cool, just read sections from the textbook. Donovan assigned some reading as homework and asked everyone to practice a spell called the 'Meduseus'. Alice knew she'd want to perfect it before she came back to class so she scribbled it down in her journal that she took with her to class.

"Alice," said Donovan stopping his niece before she left his class.

Alice stopped and turned to her uncle who knelt down to face her. "How's your first day been?" he asked, his blue eyes keen with curiosity.

"Fine," Alice said impatiently, looking back at Serena who seemed to be waiting for her.

"Fine?" Donovan asked, concern creeping into his brow. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Alice distractedly, Serena was motioning her to follow. "Gotta go," she said. "Bye Uncle Donovan!"

Alice waved and then raced after Serena and Rowan who were on their way to Potions.

The potions classroom, Alice soon learned, was in the dungeon, which was not the cheeriest place to spend a September afternoon. As the spiraling steps took Alice and the other Gryffindors deeper into the Hogwarts grounds the air became staler and chillier. She started wondering what kind of creature could be lurking down here in the dark chambers of the lower floors. This creature, it turned out was none other than a elegant, middle aged woman with long silver hair clasped back in a thick barrett. She had sky blue eyes that twinkled at the girls as they entered the chilly potions classroom.

"Welcome, welcome," said the woman, with a soft soothing voice. Her name, Alice soon learned was Professor Rosier.

Professor Rosier was not the kind of person Alice would expect to be dwelling in a cold grey classroom such as the dungeon. She had a warm kind of presence that radiated in her smile. It confused her even more when Alice saw the Slytherin banners glued up on the wall behind the professor's desk. This lady seemed to fall very against the stereotype. As she glided over the class, Alice took a seat next to Serena, Rowan and some other girl Serena was talking to. The pushed up a bit against her on the bench and Alice felt like she was going to fall off soon. Nevertheless, she was prepared for whatever lecture Professor Rosier had prepared for them.

Instead of a boring lecture, Professor Rosier had every take out their cauldrons and samples of grotesque things they kept in little jars. As Alice tinkered around with the recipe that had been handed out she realized that she was actually enjoying herself. Serena on the other hand seemed to be struggling.

"A wormtail plus two teaspoons of silver antler," she said in a daze, picking up and looking at different labels.

"That's the antler," Alice said, pointing to a bottle filled with white powder.

Serena thanked her just as the professor walked by.

"Miss Turing is it?" she asked after stirring a bit in Alice's potion. "You look

just like your sister."

Alice felt her cheeks flush with pride as that could only be the highest compliment one could give to Alice Turing. To look like her sister was to be beautiful and so Alice thanked the professor very kindly.

"How are you so good at potions?" Serena asked after class was over and they were on their way back to the common room.

"I don't know," Alice admitted. "I just followed the recipe."

"More like swallowed the recipe," said a Slytherin girl Alice hadn't seen before. She sneered and then snickered to herself.

"Excuse me?" Serena said, stopping in her tracks to face the group of sniveling Slytherins.

The girl that had insulted her had bobbed black hair and dark eyes. She was tall and slightly Asian, with very pale skin. She laughed even harder when Serena pulled out her wand.

"Serena it's okay," Alice said, shyly grabbing at Serena's wand arm.

"No, Alice this girl insulted you," she said bravely standing her ground. "Get your wand out Slytherin, unless you're too chicken."

Serena stared down the Slytherin girl and the onlookers backed up. The Slytherin girl drew her own, bony white wand and pointed it at Serena.

"Alright then Gryffindor," said the girl. "Have it your way. Flipendo!"

A jinx shot out the girl's wand and nailed Serena in the chest, knocking her back and forming a large crowd to form around the dueling pair. Alice begged her to stop but Rowan grabbed Alice's shoulders and pulled her back just as another jinx came their way. Serena scrambled up and began shouting counter hexes. Hardly any of them worked since it was only each of their first days. Then one of the spells landed.

"Inflatus!" Serena shouted and a white spark shot out of her wand hitting the Slytherin girl square in the jaw.

Nothing happened at first but then the mark began to swell. The swelling spread to her face until the previously thin lanky girl looked more like a bobblehead. All of the onlooking Gryffindors erupted into cheers until they were silenced by none other than Professor Rosier who was running up from the dungeons after hearing all the commotion.

"Nova, are you alright?" she asked, rushing over to the Slytherin girl who's head was painfully swelling and had gone bright red. "Deflatus," she muttered with her wand and immediately the swelling reversed itself as if her head had been pricked like a balloon. "Who did this," Rosier demanded furiously turning on the Gryffindors that remained. They all shrunk back except for Serena who continued to give the Slytherin girl a hard stare. "Cahill, detention," Professor Rosier said to Serena, looking very cross. Alice noticed a smile begin to creep up upon Nova's face but Rosier caught it before it was too late. "You too Parkinson," she barked and stood up.

"Everyone go back to your common rooms," Professor Rosier demanded. "Except you two," she pointed at Nova and and Serena. "You both are coming back down with me."

Grudgingly, Nova stood up and glared at Serena. Unaffected, Serena adjusted her glasses and wiped her nose before bravely following the silver haired professor back down into the dungeons. She was willing to pay the price for being a hero.


	7. The Library

Author's note: Hi everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story. Let me know what you think so far!

Chapter 7

Serena Cahill enjoyed herself very much as she walked away from the fight. It was a fight well won weather she got punished for it or not and if she was being honest, a deep dark part of her secretly celebrated landing the inflatus hex on Nova's jaw. It was a difficult spell to learn and she'd taught it to herself straight from the wizarding textbooks which was hard enough on her own. Not only that but when she got back to the common room after this, Serena would be celebrated like a hero.

"You two will be scrubbing out the cauldrons," Professor Rosier said and with the flick of her wand, the magic brushes that were doing the cleaning on their own dropped to the floor.

Sighing, Serena picked up a brush and ran some cold water over the dirty cauldron. There was a gross grey slime inside of this one. Who ever had been working here had done something very wrong.

"This is all your fault," Nova muttered as she fought Serena for a turn at the sink.

"My fault?" Serena said a little too loudly.

"Quiet you two," Professor Rosier said in a less than soothing voice.

However 'over' Serena wanted to appear to be about the detention, but the end of it, she was hot headed and temperamental as she climbed back up to the Gryffindor common room. When she got inside the room was quiet and people were doing their homework. A few of them looked up and clapped to which Serena lifted a sly smile. It lifted a bit of the angriness she felt from all that scrubbing.

With a sigh, Serena entered the girl's dormitory where Alice and Rowan were sitting together doing homework. They both turned around upon Serena's reappearance.

"What were you thinking?" Rowan demanded in a stern tone. Serena's confidence began to flake but then she saw Rowan's stoic expression crack with a giant grin and then a laugh. "I can't believe you did that," she sputtered.

Serena laughed too and even the shy Alice couldn't help but smile.

"She was insulting Alice!" Serena insisted. "I had to do something."

Alice thanked her for the help but promised that next time she could pick her own battles. She didn't need people landing in detention for her.

That night, Alice studiously did all of her homework before nightfall, unlike Serena who was busy chatting with other first years and Rowan who was more preoccupied with turning a cup into a kettle. They envied her in being done so quickly and begged her to help them with their homework since they had hardly gotten anything done. Alice wasn't excited to do the other's work but she was okay with it since they both hung our around her as she did it. Everything was done before Mallory Marsh called for lights out.

While Alice and the others snuggled into bed, Emily Turing crept into the common room wearing her blue silk pyjamas and crouched down in front of the fireplace. A fear that her mother was in danger had been nagging at her mind all day so she decided to make a call to check in. Since Uncle Donovan had left for work, the ministry had sent two deputy aurors to the Turing house to protect her mother while they were still under threat of Starfire. The flames shifted and soon the tired and worried face of Lucy Turing appeared to Emily's relief.  
"Mom," Emily said a smile rushing to her face. "Are you okay?"

Lucy didn't smile when she saw her eldest and looked off center so that she wasn't quite making eye contact. It was hard to make out in the flames, but to Emily, her mom's eyes looked lost and degraded. This hurt Emily almost more than if her mom hadn't responded at all.

"Mom?" Emily said, her voice strung with worry.

"I'm here," her mom said, looking back at her. "I'm here Emily."

Emily's mom didn't ask about her day or how Alice was handling her first year at Hogwarts. She didn't even ask what house Alice had been sorted into or if Emily liked the new charms teacher. Lucy just flickered there, like a flame about to be put out.

"Take care of Henry mom," Emily said to the silence. "Don't let him be forgotten."

The head of Lucy Turing nodded and then the flames went cold. A chill fell over the Gryffindor common room and Emily shivered violently. Her mom wasn't okay. She might be safe but she was going slowly mad and Emily didn't know what to do. She shook as she trembled up the stairs and into her bed. She laid down but didn't sleep; her mind was so awake. Her sister shouldn't be here, it told her. Alice wasn't a Gryffindor and wasn't even human. Her mom's mental health was shriveling and her friends had hardly spoken to her since she got here. Why was Emily even still trying.

The next day, Alice was more excited for her classes but with six days before the full moon, her mind didn't want to let her be happy. At breakfast that morning, the owls had come and Alice got a letter from her Aunt Catherine congratulating her on getting into Gryffindor. Still no word from her mom or dad though so Alice felt a little discouraged.

"I really owe you one on that potions homework," Serena said over breakfast. "Professor Rosier really hates me now."

"Oh look over there," Rowan said, pointing to where the lanky Slytherin from the other day was leaning against a wall. She looked a little disturbed. Serena leaned in on the table and Alice and Rowan who were sitting next to each other inched forward.

"Her name is Nova Parkinson," Serena reported.

"Pureblood," Rowan puffed, rolling her misty grey eyes.

"How can you tell?" Serena asked.

"Parkinson," said Rowan. "That's one of the sacred 28 pureblood wizarding families. Unless her father married a muggle, which he could have," Rowan trailed off.

Alice remembered her parents talking about the 'Sacred 28' in which they were not a part of. They'd said something about there being only 27 now that the Black name had died off in the last generation. She didn't really know much about what they were talking about at the time. It wasn't until she was older that she learned how closely some wizards prided their blood status. In Slytherin it was especially common since no muggle born was typically ever put there. As far as Alice's blood went though, her father Eric was a halfblood, so one of her grandfathers was a muggle and her mom Lucy, was a Greengrass somewhere along the bloodline. It never really mattered to Alice much however. The pureblood lines would all die off like the Blacks eventually.

Rowan on the other hand had extensive knowledge of all the pureblood relations because as an Avery she was among them. When she was old enough, she was expected to marry from the 26 other remaining branches but as the first Gryffindor in her family, she felt like maybe she'd be the one to shatter the glass ceiling. It's not like her name would die out if she married a muggle born or a half blood. There was always Tom to carry on that silly tradition.

"Look!" Serena exclaimed, after sorting through her mail and pulling out a pastel magazine. "The new Althenian is out!"

Alice and Rowan flocked to the magazine as Serena flipped through it excitedly. Every wizard raised girl knew what the Althenian was. Alice had begged her mother for a subscription but she'd always refused to buy one for her stating that they were too petty and a bad influence on girls. The Althenian was a wizarding fashion magazine and featured the 12 Althenian 'princesses' which were really just the 12 rich daughters of the chief editor Robert Althenia. All of them were gorgeous models and each page showed them wearing a stylish new robe or riding a fancy broom.

"Andromeda is my favorite," Serena said, pointing to a pretty dark haired girl wearing a fancy blue ball gown robe.

Alice and some of the other girls fawned over the pretty dresses and elegant shoes, knowing sadly that all of is was out of their price range. When Alice was nine she'd owned a pair of Athenian glass slippers but sadly she'd grown out of them since then.

That day, Alice had some new classes such as Transfiguration, History of Magic and Astronomy. Although it was the least magical of her classes, Alice found sitting in the observatory fun because she was at the highest elevation of the castle and the windows were kept open. The professor was a centaur and he spoke a lot about ancient stories and myths which Alice found fascinating. Rowan however voiced afterwards how boring she found the class.

On the third day of term, Alice went to the library which she'd recently discovered after getting lost on her way to History of Magic. She went alone because she needed to find more information about the approaching moon, only five days from now. The library was very quiet as Alice entered and there were a few older classmen studying quietly at the tables. Books shifted around by magic so Alice had a difficult time browsing through. Finally she found a small section labelled 'lycanism'.

Alice ran her finger across the spines of several old books until she found one a little newer called 'A Study in Werewolves'. It was dated for 2005, fourteen years ago. As she flipped it open, she felt her heart beating deeply in her ears. There were pictures, pictures that looked like the monster her sister had killed. They moved across the page, in full color and horror. Alice almost dropped the book in terror but she kept going until she found a page about transformation.

 _The monthly transformation from a man to a monster is among the most painful and uncomfortable process known to wizardkind,_ the book read. _It beings with the human organs shrinking and the bones becoming larger. Then the-_

Disturbed, Alice stopped reading and turned to another page instead. This one was about the Wolfsbane potion which had been developed in the late 20th century to aid werewolves by keeping their mind human while they transformed into a beast. Alice didn't see how staying conscious throughout the process would be any better. Desperately she searched the index for a potion that would reverse the infection but as she already suspected, there weren't any answers. Instead, her finger fell upon a the name Remus Lupin. Alice had seen that name before. There was a plaque in memoriam of this man and Nymphadora Tonks up in the astronomy tower. It was one of the many golden memorials in honor the those who died in the second wizarding war.

Curiously, Alice flipped the page and a picture of a man with silvering brown hair and a stern but kind expression appeared in the corner. Under the portrait read the words _Remus John Lupin; 1960-1998. Order of Merlin, First Class._ 1998, Alice remembered; that was the year of the battle of Hogwarts, confirming her memory from before. She skimmed down the page and learned that this man was the first and only werewolf to be awarded the title of Order of Merlin, First Class; post mortem unfortunately. He use to be a professor at Hogwarts, Alice learned and even a student. She got more excited as she read that, because it meant she wasn't alone. There had been someone else here who had been in her shoes. How he'd gotten away with it though, Alice still couldn't figure out.

Alice decided to leave the book in the library instead of checking it out because being caught with any kind of werewolf reading material could raise questions. She hadn't exactly found what she was looking for, but she left a little lighter, knowing it was possible for her to stay in school. She just needed to figure out how.

Across the Hogwarts castle, Emily Turing had received a paper summons from Professor Carlyle to report to her office at noon. Confused, Emily traveled to the spiraling eagle that lead up to the headmistress's office and spoke the written password enclosed in the note. As Emily rose to the office floor she was greeted by big fat cat, sitting near the door. Emily carefully stepped over the animal and trailed deeper into Carlyle's very white and orderly office. Hardly anything hung on the walls except for the portraits of the other headmasters as Emily soon caught sight of. The most recent was that of a grey haired lady who looked vaguely familiar to her.

"Emily," said Harry Potter, startling the teenager as she crept around the corner. "How are you? Take a seat," he said.

Emily gracefully sat down across from the famous wizard and smiled congenially to remind him of their first visit and not the last one. She remembered how he'd said he would like to speak with her again at some point and now here he was sitting in the headmistress's office. Professor Carlyle appeared behind a bookshelf and smiled at the two as she passed.

"Don't mind me," she said, slipping off somewhere else in her office.

"Emily I have two things to discuss with you," Harry said leaning forward in his chair. "The first is ministry business."

"Has my father been found?" Emily asked, a sudden surge of excitement bubbling in her stomach.

Mr. Potter's face fell as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not but I can assure you that two aurors are still patiently stationed at your mother's house in case of another attack. They are both very well equipt to handle a situation such as that."

Emily nodded but inside knew it wasn't just physical protection her mom needed. It was

mental.

"What I came to offer you," Harry said in a brighter tone. "Is an internship at the auror's office at the ministry this summer."

"What?" Emily exclaimed, completely thrown off guard.

"Well, we're starting a summer internship program, aimed at Hogwarts students in their sixth and seventh year." Mr. Potter explained, "As far as what I've learned from Professor Carlyle, your marks are at the top of your class and-," he lowered his voice. "From what you did to save your sister's life this summer I think you'd be a perfect candidate. Think about it," Mr. Potter said nodding at Emily's bewildered expression. "The other thing I need to talk to you about is this," Harry Potter said, reaching into his cloak and producing a crystal bottle or grey substance. Emily waited for him to explain.

"It's a wolfsbane potion," said Harry and Emily's emotions jerked. "I bought it just in case you had anything else to tell me about your sister."

Emily's mind flashed warning signs. This was a trap. He'd lured her here to this office so he could offer the potion and she'd be tricked into revealing Alice's identity.

"Why don't you ask Alice?" Emily said, trying to keep her complexion cool and under control.

Harry sighed and fixed Emily with a sympathetic expression. "Look, I'm not trying to play cat and mouse here. I'm not going to dangle the potion over you until you say you need it. I'm asking because you're her sister, you were there that night and I know that the only reason someone like you would kill someone would be because someone you love was in real danger. Trust me, I get it. The moon rises in five days and if there is a werewolf in Hogwarts they not only pose an extreme threat to themselves but to everyone else's," Harry learned back in his chair. "I trust that someone as intelligent as you has thought through that already."

"No need," Emily said coolly, standing up though her heart was hammering in her chest. "My sister isn't infected."

Emily started to walk away, plans swimming through her mind when Harry Potter called back to her and his words stopped her in her tracks.

"My kids go here," he said in a voice that sounded much more desperate than before.

Emily paused for a moment but then continued walking. Harry knew, she knew he did but still, she'd find a way to fix this problem on her own.


	8. A Dangerous Class

Author's Note: I hope people are enjoying the story so far. I haven't really gotten much feedback so reviews are much appreciated :) 3 Any way thanks for reading!

Chapter Eight: A Dangerous Class

With four days remaining until the moon, Alice Turing devised a plan in which she would pretend to be visiting Hagrid, the half giant who lived in a hut on the edge of the woods and instead she'd run out and wait in the forest for the night to be over. This way she'd be out of the castle and no one would be suspicious. That was, until it was bedtime and Alice would be nowhere to be found. She was still trying to figure out how to solve that part.

At breakfast that morning, Lily; one of the other first year Gryffindors sat down next to her and across from Rowan and Serena. The two of them were fawning over Serena's new Althenia ring she'd received from her grandmother as a present for being sorted into Gryffindor. The girl who sat down with them, Lily, was a pretty girl with light red hair and a splash of freckles across her nose. She had big brown eyes and smiled shyly at Alice who said hello.

"My dad said to give you this," Lily said and slipped Alice a crystal vial with a grey liquid inside. "He said drink one of these every day for four more days."

Confused and a little spooked, Alice took the vile and slipped it into her robe before Serena and Rowan took notice. Could it be the wolfsbane potion she'd read about? More importantly, how did Lily's dad know that she needed it?

"Thank you," Alice said softly and Lily nodded. Her dark brown eyes blinked kindly at Alice for a moment before Lily disappeared again into the breakfast crowd.

Alice made a stop in the girls lavatory before classes started that morning and downed the contents of the grey vile before her taste buds could register the horrid taste of the concoction. Doubling over, Alice gagged and almost threw up what she'd just put down but managed to choke her way so serenity and held fast to the bathroom sink. Looking up and into the mirror, Alice saw little veins stick out of her reddened face and water had filled her vision. She washed off her complexion and made faces in the mirror until she looked normal again before running off to her next class.

It wasn't until lunch that Alice felt any side effects of the wolfsbane potion. When she sat down with Rowan and Serena she didn't feel like eating a thing. In fact, she felt like doing the exact opposite of that. Her stomach felt queasy and she wanted to find a place to lie down for a moment.

"You okay Alice?" Rowan asked, noticing Alice's uncomfortable expression.

"I'm fine," Alice said, forcing a smile. She took a bite of sandwich but immediately regretted it and went to go excuse herself before she got sick all over the table.

Not knowing anywhere else to go, and not feeling her best, Alice made her way up to Professor Donovan's classroom where she decided to be a little early. She poked her blonde head into the classroom and spotted her uncle lounging in his desk chair and eating an apple. He was talking steadily to Professor Rosier. The two of them seemed very well acquainted.

"Alice," Uncle Donovan said, spinning his chair abruptly, startling Professor Rosier. "Come in, it's good to see you."

"Hello Professor Banks," said Alice. "Hello Professor Rosier."

She shyly walked up to the front of the classroom and sat down at a desk opposite her uncle.

"I'll send you the reports then Professor," said Professor Rosier as she excused herself from the room. This left Alice with Donovan's undivided attention.

Professor Donovan had a twinkle in his eye that Alice hadn't seen often since the night of the attack. His grey hair was combed and he sat with an brighter kind of energy than before. It was like he was his old self again.

Behind Donovan's desk, Alice saw a range of moving photographs ranging from random people she didn't know, to one of her mom and dad and even the photo of her and Emily at the train station. Everyone in the pictures smiled and laughed except for the ones of more concrete places such as a single photo of the Leaky Cauldron, standing on it's own. Alice couldn't believe how many photos there were and these were just the ones Donovan had hanging on the wall.

"How have your days been?" Donovan asked, leaning forward in his desk to hear his quietest niece.

"Fine," Alice lied with a small voice. She didn't like lying to Donovan but she felt she had to. She knew Donovan would recommend she go home if he were to find out what she was.

Donovan didn't expect much of an answer from her but he quickly and wildly changed the subject to the topic they would be learning in class that day which he himself was very much looking forward to.

"See over there?" Donovan said, pointing to the hollowed out area of the classroom where a wooden crate had been set up. "There's a baby Siren in there. Harmless really, but today everyone is going to get to meet their greatest desire without the fear of being eaten alive. Have you been practicing your Meduseus charm?"

Alice nodded diligently and peered curiously at the wooden crate. She didn't even know what her greatest desire was, but she felt a little frightened to find out.

"What's that?" she inquired after her eyes fell upon a tall green wardrobe that had several locks on it. It was rocking around questionably like there was another creature in it ready to escape.

"Ah," said Donovan. "That Alice, is the opposite of a siren. It's called a boggart and I'm using it with my third years. It's a little too advanced for my younger students if you don't mind me saying. Boggarts are very dangerous if they're allowed to escape."

Alice couldn't help but be more curious as time passed and the class filed in. They all circled curiously around the wooden crate holding the siren and no one seemed to notice the green wardrobe . Alice imagined the siren popping out and growing long mermaid her like Emily- but with her face on it. She would be taller and leaner, an older student with a prefect badge. Emily wasn't even a prefect so she'd be even better.

"Everyone remember the incantation," Professor Donovan said producing his wand. "Lapis, Meduseus."

A blue must circled out of Donovan's wand and fizzled in the air around them. A couple of the Hufflepuff girls giggled in excitement.

"Are you kids ready to meet the siren?" asked Donovan.

Some of the crowd cheered. They'd been studying the creatures all week and Alice was more than curious to meet one. She wondered what a baby Siren would look like.

"I hope she's hot," said a Hufflepuff boy and some people laughed before Alice realized it was Peter who had said it.

Next to her, Rowan and Serena took out their wands to prepare as Uncle Donovan made everyone back up in the circle. With his wand, he flicked it towards the box and it burst open in a blue shatter of mist. Some girls screamed but Alice watched in awe as the mist began to form immediately into a floating beautiful small child, around age five or six in muggle years. She had jet black hair pulled back into a bun and a small, pixie like face. Everyone was mesmerized.

Alice began to wonder what she was suppose to be looking at when the transformation happened. It didn't happen all at once, for some people they immediately saw their hearts desire reflected in the girl but for Alice, it was a process. The siren began to stretch and then formed an Alice sized body. It grew long blonde hair and Hogwarts robes to match her own, but Alice didn't see anything different about the girl. Alice certainly wasn't completely happy in life, she had a heart's desire, but she didn't see it reflected in the siren.

"Wands at the ready," Donovan said, just as the Alice siren reached up and pulled up the sleeve of her robes. There was no werewolf scar.

Alice didn't have time to process this before; "Lapis Meduseus," was shouted and the reflection of herself disappeared into an orb of blue mist and then back in the crate.

Lost in a trance, Alice didn't hear Professor Banks tell everyone to go back to their seats or the rocking wardrobe nearby and stood trying to think through what had just happened. Around her, people were chattering excitedly about the lesson and only one of them shouted just in time for the green wardrobe next to Alice to shatter outwards. A sharp pain exploded in her left cheek as a small wood fragments knifed into her skin. She snapped out of her daze and stumbled backwards as a large shadow flew towards her out of the shattered wardrobe and screamed just before it clotted together and formed the shape of a silvery moon.

Professor Banks dashed forward and shielded his niece from the very adult, and dangerous boggart. Alice watched in fear and astonishment as the moon disappeared and a lovely, golden blonde woman took it's place.

"Riddikulus!" shouted Donovan Banks and the beautiful Ginger's hair turned to roses and disappeared inside a wooden chest that Donovan used only for storing glass jars.

Nobody clapped this time. The classroom looked on in terror as Alice fell to the floor. She looked like such a cowardly fool. No one should have ever put her in Gryffindor, she couldn't even handle a boggart for one second. Not to mention seeing the moon appear in front of her class and uncle was more terrifying than the moon. Luckily however, she was the only one in the class who knew what had just attacked her.

"Everyone stay here for a few minutes," said Donovan feverishly as he bent down to examine Alice. "I will be escorting Miss Turing to the infirmary."

Alice didn't want to get up. She felt so weak and so pointless. The splinters had sprayed her, but she felt more emotionally hurt than physically. Nevertheless, the longer she stayed on the floor, the longer the class would stare at her. She stood up, not making eye contact with anyone and left with Uncle Donovan who supported her as she leaned feverishly against him. They walked outside into the hall where Donovan immediately turned around and examined his niece's face.

"Alice are you alright?" he asked, searching her eyes for an answer.

Alice nodded saying that she'd be fine and could take herself to the infirmary. She

honestly felt more mentally shaken than anything else. Donovan however, protested.

"Alice," he said. "I need to know that you're okay. The fault was all mine, I should have caught a less threatening boggart than the nasty one in there to show the third years. It can be very traumatic if you aren't prepared to face one."

"It's fine," Alice insisted, not wanting him to bring up the fact that her boggart was that of a full moon. She was however puzzled by her uncle's own boggart which seemed to be of a beautiful lady that looked somewhat familiar to Alice. Both parties however stayed silent as the infirmary was not far from the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. .

"Oh dear," fussed a blonde lady upon seeing Alice appear with Professor Banks. "What have you had your students do this time?"

The nurse was dressed in traditional nursing robes and had a motherly face and soft features. She had Alice sit down in one of the white infirmary beds while Professor Banks explained to her the situation.

"We can fix that right away," she said upon closer inspection. "I suggest getting back to your class Donovan, Alice is in good hands."

The nurse, Alice soon learned was called Nurse Longbottom. She assumed the woman must be married to Professor Longbottom the herbology teacher ras it was quite an unusual and unfortunate last time and the pair looked too different to be siblings. Nurse Longbottom cleaned Alice's face off and then put a numbing charm on her skin so that she didn't feel the tweezers go in and pull out bits of wood. Alice sat very still throughout this and hardly even breathed until the nurse removed the last few splinters.

"That's better," she said, unwrapping a band aid and sticking just one on Alice's previously cut cheek from when the glass door had exploded.

Alice was about to thank the nurse and leave when the blonde woman noticed the cuts on Alice's hand.

"Oh you should have told me about those," said Nurse Longbottom, having Alice sit back down. "Honestly, I know you Gryffindors tend to tough it out but there's a time in a place."

Alice grimaced as the nurse insisted on seeing the cuts and asked her to take her black robe off.

"I can't," said Alice remembering the scarring form the werewolf bite. She couldn't let the nurse see what was under her cloak.

"Of course you can," said Nurse Longbottom furrowing her matronly brow. "I'm a nurse dear, I've seen everything."

The nurse convinced Alice to take off the black Hogwarts robe so that she sat only in her short sleeve white button down and grey vest, however Alice hugged her inner arm tightly to her chest.

"What are you doing that for?" Nurse Longbottom asked, noticing the strange way her small blonde patient was holding her arm. "Let me see."

Alice protested but the nurse took her arm and examined the scaring werewolf bite that had plagued her mind for so long. She felt completely exposed in front of the woman. This was her newest and darkest secret and now the nurse could turn her in and get her expelled forever.

"What is this from?" the nurse asked in a low voice and met Alice's eye. She didn't look surprised, just concerned.

"Please don't tell," Alice said, as tears filled her eyes. She couldn't keep it in any longer, the full moon was coming in four days and she was petrified.

"After I fix your hand I'm going to show you something," Nurse Longbottom promised and then set to work removing the splinters.


	9. Atop the Astronomy Tower

Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter 9! Thanks for reading- be sure to leave feedback in the comments below thanks! xx

Chapter Nine: A Visit to the Astronomy Tower

On the infirmary walls there were lots of golden memorials mounted on the wall in honor of the many fallen heros of the battle of Hogwarts. Since the infirmary was a long room, it had several white beds and mounted above each of the beds was one of the golden plaques that were scattered so often throughout Hogwarts. The one above Alice's bed was dedicated to Lavender Brown, 'In honor of a brave heart and a loving soul'. She shivered to think this room was once filled with the dead bodies of the fallen heros.

Nurse Longbottom finished working on Alice's hand and then beckoned her to follow her outside. The previous class period had finished so there were now loads of students roaming the halls making it difficult for Alice to keep track of the blonde nurse as she wove through the sea of students. Eventually, Alice and Nurse Longbottom got to the outside grounds and to the edge of the forbidden forest. Alice felt a chilly, September breeze settle in making her wish she hadn't left her black Hogwarts robe in the infirmary. She didn't know where she was going but she followed Hannah Longbottom to a withered old tree with thick, spindly branches. Alice knew this tree to be called the Whomping Willow.

Hannah Longbottom grabbed Alice's small hand and approached the tree slowly. It stirred and Alice felt the matronly nurse flinch.

"This," Hannah explained, "Is where I've been instructed to bring students with your condition."

"My condition?" Alice said, an idea suddenly forming. "You mean there are others like me at school?"

Nurse Longbottom shook her head to Alice's dismay. "When I took over from Madam Pomfrey, the previous head nurse," she explained. "I was given certain instructions about several past conditions the school has dealt with; lycanthrope being one of them."

Alice shuttered at even the mention of her condition but then began to wonder what other kinds of things had Hogwarts dealt with. Where there things worse than werewolves within the school walls?

Even with Nurse Longbottom's explanation, Alice still didn't understand what they were doing standing in front of the Whomping Willow, the deadliest tree on school grounds. She watched as the nurse paced back in forth a few times, seeming to search for something when she spotted a knot sticking out of one of the roots in the willow tree.

"There," said Nurse Longbottom, pointing to the knot. "When we approach the tree it will start to move but it should freeze as soon as we touch that knot."

Alice trekked quietly behind the nurse as they scurried up to the tree. One of the branches started to shiver and then grabbed towards Alice but Nurse Longbottom put up her wand in protection. When they reached the base of the tree, the nurse tapped the protuberant root and the tree froze where it was like it had been frozen in ice. Alice then shivered as Nurse Longbottom pawed around in the dirt for a hole to slip into.

"There it is," she said, her black shoe hitting a patch of soft dirt under a crooked tree root. She pointed her wand at the dirt and it caked into the ground and crumbled away revealing a narrow shoot in the ground big enough for Alice to slip into. Alice backed away cautiously.

"It's alright," said nurse Longbottom. "The shoot isn't going to hurt you. It will keep you safe in the Shrieking Shack."

"Where?" trembled Alice.

"It leads to the Shrieking Shack which is an abandoned house in Hogsmeade. You'll be safe there. I promise," said the nurse. "When the moon rises, come here and when you return come straight to the infirmary."

"Why?" asked Alice.

The nurse's blue eyes widened at first as she seemed to realize Alice had never transformed before. Then they filled with pity. "Just come to the Infirmary," she said firmly.

Deep into the stale dark, dungeons, Emily Turing sat inpatiently on her stool, tapping her foot on the ground a doodling in her notebook instead of paying attention to Professor Rosier. Now that was was a sixth year, she was taking advanced potions and had a double block with the Slytherins, which was lasting forever. Last year she'd been decent at potions though Professor Rosier never seemed to appreciate her but ever since this year had begun, she hadn't been doing so hot.

"Miss Turing can you please repeat to me what I just told the class?" Professor Rosier said, giving Emily a sharp eyebrow and folding her arms.

Emily's eyes darted up where she'd been doodling and her brain failed uselessly as it tried to remember what had been going on. They'd been doing something with dandelions...

"Um," Emily stuttered.

"That's what I thought," Professor Rosier said. "Five points from Gryffindor."

Emily's classmates groaned and she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and anger. She'd never lost the house any points before, she was always the one with the answers.

Potions ended and Emily darted out of the room before Andrew could try and approach her again. Her friends, Lilah and Georgia we're in advanced potions with her since they hadn't scored well enough on their OWLs and hardly had any classes with her at all. Without anyone to hide with, Emily's creepy admirer Andrew took every chance he had to speak with the prettiest girl in the school. Today however, Emily didn't have time to come up with some lame excuse as to why she couldn't talk. She needed to go to the library and find a solution to Alice's hairy situation.

What Emily didn't know was that Alice was feeling a little more comfortable that evening, knowing she had a plan. She was stone cold terrified the nurse would tell someone but Nurse Longbottom had assured her that conditions like hers were confidential unless they became a safety threat to other students. (Which it soon could be.) She pushed this out of her mind however and climbed back up to the Gryffindor common room where students were lounging about, doing homework and listening to the newest wizarding band Dungeon Boys.

"You alright Alice?" Rowan asked. She and Serena were sitting together on a couch doing the history of magic homework.

"Alice, you scared us," said Serena sitting up from being slouched over and making room for Alice to sit with them.

Alice blushed and sat down. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm fine now. That thing just scared me," Alice explained, remembering the boggart.

"You're so lucky that you missed History of Magic," Serena said, pointing to her textbook. "It was so completely boring."

Alice looked at Serena's book and saw that they had been studying the witch trials of the middle ages; a topic Alice found a little intriguing. She agreed however, how fortunate she was to have missed it and pulled her knees up to her chin.

Across the room, Alice saw Lily Potter sitting by herself in one of the red arm chairs. She was reading a book quietly before a boy who looked just like her; only older and with black hair instead of red, came up and began to pester her.

"Go away James," Lily said, turning herself in the chair so that she faced away from her peevish older brother.

Alice's eyes flicked away and she put her head down, trying to find some peace before they all went down for dinner.

The next morning rose and at breakfast, Lily Potter found Alice again and handed her the second vile of Wolfsbane potion. Alice thanked her and downed it as quickly as she could in the girl's lavatory after making sure she was alone. Her body shook violently against the concoction but she managed her hold her stomach long enough for the grey liquid to settle. After that she had charms with the strange Professor Hogan who gave her a sharp black stare as she, Rowan and Serena entered the classroom together.

Alice decided that she did not like Professor Hogan. There was an air about him that reminded her of something slimy and vile, she just couldn't pin it down. Rowan and Serena however, seemed to love him. They found him enchanting and fawned over every spell he went over in class. Even Peter who had charms with the Gryffindors, thought he was mighty impressive.

"There's just something not right about him," said Alice, after class as she followed Rowan and Serena through the Hogwarts halls.

Serena had pulled her black hair back in cornrows that day and weeded her way through the hall. Her glasses had gotten broken the night before because of a pillow fight in the girl's dormitory but Professor Hogan had happily been able to fix them with a simple charm. She raved about how good of a teacher he was and how she wished all their professors were as kind as him.

"I didn't even do my charms homework and he didn't care," said Rowan with a impish smile.

Alice stayed quiet the rest of the way to lunch and tried to keep her stomach as he leg jumped restlessly underneath the table. There was only three more days before the full moon; two more nights of rest and then she'd turn into a horrible monster. Even with the support of the kind Nurse Longbottom, Alice didn't feel prepared. She began to wonder if there was a way in the wizard world to freeze time so that she could just never have to face the full moon. Being trapped in a repeated time frame of hell seemed almost better than whatever physical torture her body was about to go through. Alice didn't even know if she'd survive the transformation. Did people die turning into werewolves?  
When Alice was two years old and Emily was five, the famous werewolf Fenrir Greyback had been put to death after serving four years in Azkaban. His condemning wizard had been Eric Turing who although did not serve at the battle of Hogwarts, played a key role in his capture after Fenrir's retreat. It had been his ID of the wizard that had sentenced him to wizard prison and later a Dementor's kiss. During the time it was big news in the wizarding world because Greyback was responsible for the infection of so many rogue werewolves but both Alice and Emily were too young to remember. Their father had a notoriously foul reputation among the werewolf community ever since that day.

Sometimes, Alice liked to visit the observatory tower during her breaks. There was hardly ever anyone up there and she found a peace, sitting high above the rest of the school. That day, she wandered over to where Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonk's golden memorials hung on the wall next to each other. They both looked out upon the blue September sky and Alice wondered if the two of them ever came up here when they were both Hogwarts students.

"Oh hi," said a voice from behind her. It was Lily Potter. She had just run up the stairs and caught her breath on the banister, running a hand through her light red hair.

"Hi," said Alice. "Do you like it up here too?"

"Actually yes," Lily said, with a small smile. "I can leave though if you'd prefer to be alone."

"It's okay," Alice said shyly traveling over to the outer rail. "Company is nice."

Alice wasn't sure if she wanted Lily to know her very well since she probably knew the origins of the wolfsbane potion she'd been supplying. It would however, be nice to have someone else to talk to.

"I love heights," Lily said, traveling around the massive gyroscope and joining Alice on the edge of the stone rail. "It's like you're flying up here."

"Have you ever ridden a broomstick?" Alice asked.

"Loads of times," Lily grinned and leaned over the rail so that the wind blew back her hair. "My brothers are much better than me right now," she said, "but hopefully not for long. When I'm older I want to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"That's cool," said Alice. She didn't know much about Quidditch since nobody in her family but Henry was really a big fan of it. She'd only been to a few of his junior tournaments and they we're all played low to the ground and nothing like the Hogwarts matches. "I kind of wish I could try," she admitted. "Riding a broomstick I mean, I think I'd be rubbish at Quidditch."

"No one but Slytherins are rubbish at Quidditch." Lily laughed, then she looked out over the castle. "I wonder if we could ride broomsticks off the astronomy tower window," she suddenly wondered.

"We'd get in loads of trouble," Alice said.

"But wouldn't it be fun," Lily mused.

Alice felt a smile creep over her lips and imagined jumping out of the rails and falling, only to swoop back up again, the wind roaring in her ears. It was a thought Alice felt a little braver to have had.

"Look there's Professor Hogan!" Lily said, grabbing Alice's arm and pointing down below to where a little figure dressed in black left the castle and started walking towards the woods. "I wonder where he's- Alice are you alright?"

Alice had suddenly been hit by another wave of nausea. The sick feeling had started becoming closer and closer together with each passing day under the wolfsbane potion and now they felt like they were happening every other hour. Dizzily, she spun away from the edge.

"Here," Lily said, catching Alice's arm and having her sit down in front of the giant rotating gyroscope.

"Sorry," Alice apologized, curling her knees under her chest and trying to keep her mind grounded. She felt bad for making a scene in front of Lily Potter.

"Don't be sorry," Lily said, putting on a cheerful smile. She paused. "It's not the potion is it?"

Alice looked away, her cheeks flushing as she curled her toes inside her black flats.

"You don't have to tell me," Lily said folding her small, limber legs into a butterfly position on the ground. "I would feel bad too if I had to chug that grey slush. Hey- and don't worry Alice, my dad will keep you safe."

"What?" Alice looked up, unsure what Lily Potter meant.

"My dad," Lily said. "He told me to tell you he'll keep you safe. Or keep everyone else safe from you. One or the other, I don't remember."

Alice stood up, the nausea suddenly fleeting. A new temper had flared within her with the

reminder that she was not just a girl who could be friends with Lily Potter. She was the monster who could kill the head auror's daughter if she was not given proper treatment. That made her different, and a liability. That's all Alice was to anyone; a safety concern.

"That's not what I meant," Lily said, reading the hurt expression on Alice's face. "My dad just wants everyone to be safe."

It was too late though, Alice couldn't stay in the observatory any longer. She ran away, water building moisture in her eyes. She'd need to find a quiet place to hide.


	10. Skydiving

Author's Note: Getting closer to the first moon... Thank you CheckAlexa for the review! And hi to AjaBadjer. Thanks for reading- enjoy Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Skydiving

Alice saw Lily again at breakfast the next morning and she apologized for what happened up in the observatory again. Even though the worries hadn't stopped, Alice forgave her and assured Lily that everything was fine. It's all she could do anyway, because it wasn't like Lily had said anything wrong, everything she said was true. She was a threat more to others than she was to herself and if she needed to be locked away tomorrow night then she would.

Emily Turing caught her sister before she left the Great Hall for classes that morning and pulled hre into a quiet hallway.

"What," Alice said, hunching her shoulders and resisting her sister's gaze.

"Tomorrow night," Emily said. "Meet me in the common room and-"  
"I already have a plan," Alice interrupted. "Just leave me alone Emily."

Alice didn't know why she was suddenly so resentful of her sister. The one person who she'd always been able to rely upon had hardly spoken to her in days and spent most of her time isolating in a corner like she was the one going insane. Emily didn't have anything to do tomorrow night. Alice would be the one shrinking her insides and howling at the moon. Why should Emily have anything to say to her now.

The rest of the day passed all too quickly. Alice went to all of her classes but she was hardly listening, even when Professor Rosier told her that her potion was getting off course. It turned green and bubbled to the top of the cauldron before Alice made any attempt to save it. She kept wondering if there was some far out chance that she wasn't infected after all. Maybe the bite hadn't contaminated her blood and she would go out tomorrow night and remain human. It was probably just wishful thinking but Alice clung desperately to that hope.

When classes were over and the Gryffindors all had food in their bellies, Alice, Serena and Rowan traveled back to the common room where Lily Potter joined them.

"You're Harry Potter's kid right?" said Rowan, shifting her glance to Lily who sat down next to Alice on one of the red couches.

"Yeah, that's me," said Lily with a shrug. Everyone knew who her dad was, she'd gotten use to people pointing that out. She just didn't want that to be the only reason people were friends with her.

Since classes had started, Serena and her friends usually dominated the red couch by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Most people usually left them alone or came over to talk to Serena but now that Lily Potter, an already much adored first year, sat down with them and wasn't talking to her but to Alice Turing, Serena Cahill couldn't help but feel a little heated. Tugging on one of her thick cornrows, Serena tried to make herself dominate in the conversation.

Alice's nerves warmed when Lily came to sit by her. Now after being quiet for so long she felt like she was contributing something to the group, even if that meant it was another person talking. She was glad they both seemed to have put past them what happened in the Astronomy tower, even if it meant more hours worrying for Alice. Lily was however, one of the few people who could know her secret. It wouldn't be like her to spread a Wolfsbane potion rumor around the school.

The warm feeling Alice felt was short lasting however, because an attack of nausea soon infiltrated her system. She got up from the warm couch and ran upstairs to the girls bathroom where she barely made it to a stall before bile ran up her throat.

Wolfsbane potion hadn't made Alice throw up before and as she wiped her mouth in disgust, she wanted to collapse upon the ground in defeat. No, Alice wanted to destroy everything in the room and scream in frustration. This wasn't even the worst part of her new life, anything that happened now was only a small percentage of the torture she'd have to endure tomorrow night. She was condemned to this every month for the rest of her life and Alice didn't see any hope of continuing on. Why her, why did she have to put up with this in secret. She wanted Emily, or her mom, or someone to hold her and tell her it was okay- even though it wasn't.

Alice spit sludge into the toilet and kicked the lever to flush. She reached up and tucked her golden blonde wisps behind her ears before leaving the bathroom and seeing Lily waiting on one of the four poster beds.

"You okay?" Lily asked.

"I'm fine," said Alice, hunching her shoulders and getting into her own bed. Lily's light red hair spun around as her brown eyes fixed Alice with a concerned look. She decided to not say anything however, as it might only upset the blonde girl even further.

Alice trembled as she pulled the sheets over her body. Nightlock mewed as Alice climbed into bed with her. She didn't want to go to sleep because it only meant tomorrow would come sooner but she couldn't stand being awake and worrying any longer. The red comforter fell over her head and Alice curled herself into a ball, trying to keep warm as her mind spun in so many different directions. She tossed and turned until finally her mind came to peace, but then it was morning again and this time, there would be no rest tonight.

Rowan shook Alice awake since she was the last one out of bed. Alice looked up and saw Rowan's snub nose and long black hair looking down at her and she almost forgot what day it was. Almost, then the nausea overtook her again.

"You look a little sick," Rowan said, upon seeing Alice's queasy face.

Alice rolled out of bed and her toes felt like hitting ice as they touched the floor. She went into the restroom and changed into her Hogwarts robes before going over to the mirror to brush her hair. Why couldn't her hair be longer, Alice thought in frustration as she let in hang down, loose and wispy that day. She brushed her teeth while Serena came in the restroom to change her rubber bands for her braces.

"You went to bed early last night," Serena commented after getting one of her clear plastic rubber bands in.

Alice didn't say anything but just nodded as she ducked out of the bathroom. She was glad it was the weekend because it meant she didn't have to go to any of her classes. It also meant she wouldn't have to see Uncle Donovan again until Monday which left him more time to forget about what happened with the rogue boggart.

At breakfast, the owls came and with it; another round of Wolfsbane potion. Lily slipped her the final grey vile and Alice later uncorked it, a blue steam wafting from the contents within. Alice's fingers trembled as she lifted the glass to her lips, but before she could choke it down, a sound from behind her made her heart hammer to a halt. Whirling around, Alice scanned the bathroom. She had been sure no one else was in the stalls. Maybe someone had come in without her noticing.

"Hello?" said Alice, her voice cracking as she spoke.

No one sounded. Frustrated, Alice put the glass to her lips again and tried to brace herself for the vulgar taste but she stopped. Why was she doing this, why would she want to keep her mind tonight. Wouldn't it be better if she didn't remember? If she was already going to be locked up in the shrieking shack, why did it matter if she was herself or not. Corking the bottle again, Alice sat down worriedly on the bathroom floor. If someone walked in right now, it would be a little embarrassing but she didn't feel like standing up. Anxiously, Alice began to tap the bottom of the vile on the stone below. She couldn't keep her mind, she didn't want to see herself as a monster. It wasn't fair.

Standing up, Alice rocketed over to the other end of the bathroom and rested her hands against the cool wall, trying to steady herself. She felt anger building in her as she began to wonder whether this potion would really only make things worse for her if she remembered. She tapped the vile on the wall a few times then took it and threw it down against the stone floor, smashing it and scattering bits of glass across the floor.

"That wasn't very smart," said a sulky voice from across the room.

Alice nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the ghost of a girl with black hair and small glasses framing her beady black eyes. The ghost flew at Alice and she screamed before the ghost began to cackle at her and drifted through the wall. Alice collapsed back on the ground, staring at the broken shards of glass and watching as the last drops of grey liquid sank into the floor. What had she done?

Later that day, Alice was up in the Astronomy tower doing homework by herself when down below she saw Professor Hogan leaving the grounds again and going into the Forbidden Forest. She watched curiously as his dark figure disappeared into the trees and she wondered what a charms professor could be doing down there. Whatever it was, there was no way to find out because another figure in the distance caught her attention. Flying towards her at the speed no bird could reach was Lily Potter, her red hair shooting back as she rocketed towards her on a broomstick.

"Look out below!" Lily called as she flew shakily into the astronomy tower causing Alice to back up against a wall.

It was apparent why the girl landed so hard when Alice saw that in her other hand, she was carrying another broomstick.

"That was so fun!" Lily screamed. "Hop on Alice," she said throwing the small blonde girl the other broom. "We're about to jump off the Astronomy Tower."

Alice felt a rush of fear and excitement as she mounted the broom. She'd never even ridden one besides Henry's size 8, a couple feet off the ground. Now she was about to jump hundreds of feet off the Hogwarts castle.

"We're going to get in so much trouble," Alice said as she and Lily peered over the edge.

"But it's going to be so worth it," said Lily with a wicked grin.

As she looked down on what she was about to do her heart hammered restlessly in her chest. For some reason, the small trembling Alice didn't feel apprehensive about heights; she realized it was the one thing she could be brave about. This was going to be the reason she was in Gryffindor.

"Go!" Lily Potter shouted and together they dived over the edge.

Alice screamed as her entire body began to plummet towards the earth, then with an upward motion, the broom began to rise sharply and she felt her heart exit her chest cavity. She was soaring high above the Hogwarts castle now, completely untethered to anything below. Alice screamed wildly with excitement as her hair was whipped violently back in the wind. She grinned at Lily who was also laughing alongside her. The feeling was pure joy and now that Alice knew what it felt like she wanted this moment to last forever.

"Alright you two, to the ground," shouted a voice from behind them.

Alice's heart sank when she looked over her shoulder and saw Madam Rosencrants, the Hogwarts Quidditch referee flying towards them on her own broomstick. She was a very pretty, attractive young women in her early to mid twenties and directed the two first years safely to the ground.

"That's twenty points off Gryffindor, I'll say," said Madam Rosencrants, shaking her head and taking the girl's broomsticks away.

"It's okay, they're my brothers'," Lily whispered as she handed over the brooms.

"And a detention for both of you tonight," said Madam Rosencrants with the raise of an perfect, black eyebrow. "I know at least Miss Potter, know better than to go jumping off the Astronomy Tower."

Lily just sighed but Alice's heart froze. A detention tonight? She couldn't have a detention on the one night she lost control of her body and turned into a rampaging wolf monster. For one minute while she'd been up in the air, Alice had been able to think about something other than the impending full moon but now that her head was grounded she felt like a complete buffoon for getting in trouble on the one day where it really mattered.

"I-I can't," stammered Alice, almost wanting to spill the whole truth.

"And why's that?" said Madam Rosencrants, folding her arms.

When Amalie Rosencrants was a student at Hogwarts she'd been head girl and a Hufflepuff prefect so she was use to kids making up excuses to get out of trouble.

"She' already got detention," Lily said, before Alice could say something worse. "With Professor Banks, right?"

Lily locked eyes with Alice. She too seemed to have realized the gravity of the situation.

"Yeah," said Alice sheepishly. "I've already got detention tonight."

"Fine," said Madam Rosencrants, "Detention tomorrow then, come to my office." She looked at Lily. "Potter you're not off the hook," she said. "I have some things I need delivered to Hagrid tonight so come by at eight."

Lily nodded and the pair of them apologized again to the flying instructor before scurrying off down a hall.

"Forgot about your _thing_ tonight," Lily said, in a quiet undertone. "You're not scared are you? I mean you've done it before right?'

Alice didn't say anything and hugged her arms to her chest. She didn't know what to tell Lily; the topic itself still made her upset. She also didn't want to admit that she'd thrown away the last draft of Wolfsbane potion which now made her highly dangerous to be around.

"You haven't done it before?" Lily's brown eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry," was all she could think to say.

"It's fine," said Alice moving along.

She felt bad having earned herself a detention. Jumping off the tower with Lily had seemed so right in the moment but now she was feeling certain regrets. Alice wasn't usually the type to be in trouble and now she had to go alone tomorrow night- if she even survived tonight's ordeal.

Dinner came and went and Serena found herself again a bit peeved when Lily sat with the girls at the table. She already wasn't sure how much she liked having Alice hanging around and being so silent but it wasn't like her to give someone the slip. Her new friend was a Potter so already Lily was more popular than Serena could ever be. Her family wouldn't stop reminding her how lucky she was to have a Potter in her house and the same age as her, so Serena just about had enough.

Rowan on the other hand found Lily Potter to make great conversation. She was funny and quick witted and when she told the story of how she and Alice jumped off the Astronomy tower she burst into a fit of laughter.

"You two flew off the tower?" Rowan said. "That's the best thing I've ever heard."

To be honest, Rowan was surprised it had been Alice who'd jumped with the new girl since Alice was always so shy and quiet. Speaking of which, Alice Turing hardly said a word throughout dinner besides to interject about the tower jumping. She was nervously picking at her peas and didn't feel like putting anything down in her stomach before the night began.

Alice stood up suddenly which startled the others and Lily shot her a meaningful glance.

"I have to go," Alice said abruptly and scurried off before anyone could ask questions. She meant to run to the Infirmary where Nurse Longbottom was surely waiting but instead she ran the opposite direction towards the forest. She couldn't do this. Alice was so scared and so weak that she ran her hands up against an empty corridor and slid down so that she was lying on the floor. With too much nervous energy, she shot up again and ran the other way. Alice wanted to cry; it was too much for her to handle. There were only a few hours left and the sun was already setting. She needed more time.

Alice took the nurse's advice and walked slowly towards the Infirmary. When she arrived however, someone she hadn't expected to see was waiting for her near one of the empty white beds. It was Professor Longbottom, Alice's herbology instructor. He was talking in a low tone with Nurse Longbottom, his wife.

"Come in Alice," said Professor Longbottom before Alice could turn away.

Shyly, Alice crept through the Infirmary door and let it close behind her. Professor Longbottom and Hannah smiled at her which only made her even more uncomfortable.

"Why don't you sit down," said Neville, and Alice began to tremble.


	11. Moonlight

Chapter 11: Moonlight

Alice sat shakily down on one of the white cotton beds next to Neville and Hannah Longbottom. She was shivering profusely despite it being a normal temperature inside the Infirmary.

"Why did you tell him?" Alice said, looking from Nurse Hannah to her husband. She didn't care for a moment that she sounded rude or outlandish, she was just embarrassed that now one of her professors knew of her predicament.

"She didn't," Neville said plainly. "My friend Harry sent me an owl a few days ago asking for my help. I didn't know that Hannah already knew about it."

"We're both here to keep you safe," said Hannah calmly.

 _Or keep other people safe from me,_ Alice wanted to retort. She felt very uncomfortable with the way both the Longbottoms were looking at her like she was some strange specimen. She almost acted on her need to get up and run away again. Maybe if she ran far enough and blacked out there, she wouldn't even be able to find her way back to Hogwarts.

"I've brought you this," Hannah said, handing Alice a snow white hospital gown with no shape and no tie to open it.

Alice stepped into the changing corner and put it on, wondering if she'd have clothes to change into after her transformation shredded whatever this cloth dress was. Hannah Longbottom answered this with another white gown to carry with her as the three of them trekked across the school grounds.

It was chilly outside and Alice felt even more exposed and frightened in such a thin cotton hospital dress to cover her bony frame. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and Professor Longbottom kindly took off his outer coat and draped it over the small shivering girl. Immediately warmth spread through Alice's body, but then her focus turned to that of the moon. It was dusk now and she could feel the night settling in. She didn't want this to be happening but she marched on anyway until she and the Longbottoms reached the base of the Whomping Willow.

"Allow me," said Professor Longbottom. He walked up to the root of the tree and tapped the knot successfully freezing it before it so much as shivered. Alice suspected since he was the herbology professor he must have struck some kind of strange deal with the plants around Hogwarts- though that would be a little silly.

"Right down the hole there Alice," said Hannah Longbottom ushering the girl towards the shoot leading down into the Shrieking Shack. "Mind your step."

Alice was petrified. She shook off Professor Longbottom's over coat and handed it back to him before stepping one foot into the hole. The dirt was compact and threatened to trip her when Alice stopped and turned around- hearing someone coming in the distance. It was Lily, she was carrying a large package towards Hagrid's hut and looked away quickly when she saw Alice. Feeling stupid, Alice had completely forgotten about Lily's detention with Madam Rosencrants. The Longbottoms seemed to take notice too and tensed up, shielding Alice from Lily's view from then on.

"Harry wouldn't like this," Professor Longbottom said looking over his shoulder at Lily who was now disappearing in the quickly darkening dusk light.

"I'll talk to her," said Nurse Longbottom. "After," she looked back at Alice who then felt the pressure to move.

"I'll go," Alice said and slid herself into the small hole. Then she let gravity shoot her down into a tunnel where she crumpled to the ground in an old, dirty slope. After catching her breath and becoming aware of her new dark surroundings, Alice traveled quickly up the slope, anxious to escape the dirt filled catacombs and prospects of unfriendly insects.

The slope lead upwards and ahead Alice could sense light. She emerged in a very damaged looking house that sent chills up her spine and reminded her of old horror movies. It looked like the place had been through everything. There were claw marks on the walls, scorches on the bits of carpet and holes smashed everywhere from floor to ceiling. Alice felt a rise of panic as she imagined spending the entire night in here.

Another room revealed a savaged piano a boarded up window. In one corner, someone had carved something into the wooden floorboards and Alice went over to read it. _Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,_ the carving read in jagged letters _._ Alice wondered if those were the names of other werewolves that had come to be tormented in here or if some kids had snuck in the Shrieking Shack and done it on a dare. Either way, Alice was unsettled by the fact that another monster had obviously been here because of all the chaos that had been scattered through the house.

With no way to see the sky or no what time it was, Alice was even more panic stricken knowing that any moment could be her last moment as herself. She quickly put down the unshredded and clean gown on on top of the half mangled piano and curled herself into a ball over in the opposite corner. Squeezing her eyes shut, Alice waited for something to happen, but nothing did. She just wanted to get it over with now.

After what felt like ages, Alice thought something was happening when a jolt from within alarmed her into standing back up again. She looked around and noticed that someone had just tumbled through the doorway. It was a small slim figure, wearing a red Quidditch jersey and black leggings. Alice realized with horror that it was Lily Potter; her face covered in dirt and a relaxed smile on her face.

"What are you doing here?" said Alice, panic almost drowning her voice. Lily didn't know that she hadn't taken her last wolfsbane potion, she wasn't safe.

"I came to help you," said Lily. "Get through your first transformation I mean. I was just about finished with my detention and on my way back that nurse lady seemed pretty insistent on me getting back to the castle, but I took a detour. I saw how Professor Longbottom froze the tree."

Alice's words almost spilled out. "I didn't take the potion Lily, you have to run," but it was too late. Her sudden scream cut her off as she doubled over in pain, collapsing into Lily's arms. "Let go," Alice managed as she tried to wriggle free. "Run!"

Alice's voice ran dry as her vision fell completely slack. She felt everything that was happening to her but no longer felt like she could move. Her insides felt like someone was hitting them against a heated sidewalk and her eyes seemed like they were about to explode out of her head. Lily dropped the girl as her eyes turned from aqua blue to completely black. She turned and ran, looking back to see Alice's face morph from a pretty little girl into an elongated snout. Her body became more canine and elongated, growing hair and sharp teeth. With a scream, Lily raced up the slope but it was too late, the werewolf chased after her and bared its claws into the dirt. Alice Turing was no longer in control.

Lily was bleeding. Something had cut her lower leg but that didn't slow her down as she raced back up the slope and out from under the entrance to the Shrieking Shack. Hannah Longbottom was looking for her as when she'd gone to check, Lily hadn't been back to the common room. She cried out when she saw Lily's leg and immediately conjured a stretcher for her to lie on.

"Why were you down there," Nurse Longbottom shook, sounding furious and in a frenzy as she raced the injured student back up the the hospital wing. "I can't have two infected students. Not to mention the very daughter of Harry Potter himself. Merlin's beard."

Lily didn't say a word as she was transported into the hospital wing. She was more focused on seeing Alice's transformation replay in her mind than anything else. It had been gruesome, and horrible to watch as a friend stretched and etched her body into that of a lupine animal. Then, it wasn't her friend anymore.

"Lay still," Nurse Longbottom said as soon as Lily was transferred to a regular cotton white bed. She hadn't realized how bag her leg was bleeding until her head was propped up on a pillow and she saw the damage for herself. Suddenly scared herself, Lily watched in tense silence as Nurse Longbottom cleaned off the wound and had it bandaged after taking a swab of fresh blood and placing it in a jar.

"Looks like a clean cut," said Nurse Longbottom. "You sure are lucky Miss Potter. I'll still have this sent off to be tested though," she said, rattling the blood sample.

Lily felt her muscles relax as she lay back down in the bed. For a second she'd imagined having the same fate as Alice and her mind had gone wild with worry. Then she remembered her father and how angry he'd be with her stupid decision to follow Alice down the hole. That caused her to tense up a bit. She knew he wouldn't be please and hoped he wouldn't take it out on Alice, though it had been her who'd refused the very expensive potion they'd been supplying.

Nevertheless, Lily waited up that night, wondering if Alice was okay down alone in the Shrieking Shack. She wished she could have stayed with her, even if it meant watching her massively painful transformation again. No one deserved to go through that alone.

When daylight broke and Nurse Longbottom wasn't around, Lily swung her injured leg and grabbed the crutches the nurse had put out for her earlier. She was about to make her escape from the ward and travel back out in search of Alice now that it was morning but she heard people arguing out in the hall.

"Give her two more hours of rest," Nurse Longbottom was saying. "I promise you it will do her more good than you think."

"I need to see my daughter," said Lily's dad before bursting into the ward along with her mother; Ginny Potter.

Lily's heart sank in disappointment as she remembered all the trouble she was in. Her family ran over to her and gave her a hug before anything else which took Lily by surprise.

"What are you doing out of bed," Nurse Longbottom fussed as Lily cheekily dropped the crutches.

"Your mother and I were so worried," said Harry, concern creeping into his brow. "What were you doing out of bed so late?"  
Lily sat back down on the edge of the bed and did her best to explain to her parents that she'd only meant to help Alice and she'd assumed she was safe. She could feel disappointment radiating from the pair of them however as they listened closely to every detail.

"I'm just glad you're safe," Lily's mother said, sitting down next to her and running a hand though her daughter's silky red hair.

"I am too," said Harry, "I don't blame you for wanting to help your friend but you can't just go chasing after werewolves like that. As much as I want to put my faith into the wolfsbane potion, there was always the chance that it won't work. Your actions were incredibly dangerous and could have gotten the pair of you in a lot of trouble."

"I'm sorry," Lily said softly and gazed regretfully at the floor.

"Your dad and I also heard about the little flying incident you and Alice had yesterday," said Alice's mother with a raised matronly eyebrow. She had the smallest smile however that told Lily her mom was more impressed than angry. Both of her parents had been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team when they were in school and so Lily couldn't imagine they'd be too upset.

"I'm sorry mom," Lily said, a smile forming on her lips. Then she laughed as her dad winked approvingly at her. "You guys can't encourage me!" Lily teased. "I'll do it again!"

"No jumping off the astronomy tower," her mom said and gave Lily another hug.

The Potters chatted amicably for the next hour while Nurse Longbottom snuck out to go

look for Alice. Now that the sun was out, she'd be in much worse shape than young Lily Potter.


	12. The Midnight Heist

Chapter 12: The Midnight Heist

Alice's aqua blue eyes snapped open. The first thing she noticed was how cold she was, and then how much everything hurt. She tried to sit up and pull on the clean hospital gown but immediately pain shot through her stomach and she felt back in a cry of agony. Her head hit the ground wooden floor sending shock down her spine and more dizziness in her head. Every inch of her body felt like it had been stretched out and abused or run through a wood chipper. Alice almost welcomed death at this point just to end all the pain.  
All of a sudden, an image of Lily running towards her flickered into her mind. Had that been real or a hallucination she'd seen just before transforming? Either way Alice was petrified. What if Lily was like her now? A small, dark part of her wished it was true because then she wouldn't be so alone but the rest of her detested her for even thinking that because it would have been her fault. She had decided to not take the wolfsbane potion and Lily would be paying the price. Alice would never forgive herself.

A crash from ahead told Alice that someone else had entered the shack. She turned her head as painlessly as she could and saw Nurse Longbottom rushing towards her with a woolen blanket. The nurse draped the blanket over Alice and wrapped her in it so that she was both covered and warm. Alice still felt like she needed to cry.

"Where's Lily," she asked, her voice barely audible. Her throat felt like it had been completely blown out and hoarse beyond return.

"She's upstairs, she's safe," Nurse Longbottom assured her. "No real damage done. Just rest Alice."

Nuse Longbottom had never seen such a little girl in such terrible shape. Not since they'd brought back the remnants of Lavender Brown during the battle of Hogwarts twenty one years ago. Her gown was shredded to pieces and cuts covered her arms in legs along with splinters from where she'd rammed her wolf body into walls in doors. With the greatest of care, Hannah Longbottom waved her wand; muttered "Mobilicorpus," and lifted Alice's body into the air towards the door. She knew the first transformation was always the worst.

Alice glided up the hole leading into the Whomping Willow and was rested on an already prepared gurney. She'd kind of enjoyed floating around and felt a pain in her back as she was placed on the gurney. The sunlight was harsh on her skin, Alice realized and hadn't noticed how late into the morning it was. She hoped it was still before breakfast so that no one would see her as Nurse Longbottom took her back to the Infirmary.

The reason Alice didn't remember much after that was because she blacked out a little after Nurse Longbottom started moving her gurney. She was taken back to the Infirmary and taken to the one private room where a slightly larger white bed was reserved. That was where Lily Potter insisted on waiting. Upon seeing her friend swaddled in a blanket and her face caked in dirt, Lily shot to her feet and ran over and watched as she was lowered onto the hospital bed.

"She'll be okay when I'm done with her," Nurse Longbottom assured her before Lily could ask. "Now you've gotten to see your friend, I will please insist that you either lie down on one of the empty beds. I'll bring your breakfast in a minute Miss Potter."

Lily did as she was told and left the room to go lie down again. Her leg felt measurably better after Nurse Longbottom had put some magical healing cream on it but she'd been confined to at least one day of bedrest. It was too bad she couldn't be missing a school day.

After her parents had left to work, Lily's mom had promised to be back before tomorrow to check up on her. To be honest, she'd felt a lot better after seeing her mom. She hadn't even realized how much she missed her parents until she'd seen them again and felt terrible for giving them a fright. Her dad had had to get back to the ministry and her mom back to her job after they'd made sure she was alright. It felt good to know how much her parent's cared about her.

When Alice woke up again she felt very ill. It wasn't the pain that bothered her anymore because Nuse Longbottom had placed numbing charms all over her but the complete crash of energy that even made Alice's eyelids feel to heavy.

"Eat this if you can," said Nurse Longbottom, helping Alice get into a sitting position.

Alice's arms were wrapped in white bandages so only her fingers were free to hold the energy bar Nurse Longbottom held out for her. _Nicely's Energy_ ; read the bar. _For Wizards on the Go._ Alice unwrapped the bar and tasted oats and apple. Her sore throat made it hard to swallow but she did it anyway as she realized how immeasurably hungry she was.

The nurse asked her how she was feeling and she explained the sick nauseous feeling that was festering inside her.

"That's pretty typical after the moon," Nurse Longbottom said with a sigh. She had been doing some research on werewolves in preparation for the night and knew that was a common side effect. Unfortunately it might last a day or two.

Alice had to spend the rest of the morning alone in the private room before Nurse Longbottom would let Lily in to see her. Alice was sitting up by then and doing some of her charms homework that had been brought back for her when Lily rushed into the room on crutches.

"I'm so sorry," was the first thing out of Lily Potter's mouth.

"No, I'm sorry," said Alice feeling even more ashamed as her eyes fell upon Lily's bandaged leg. Her voice was slowly being restored after eating more of those energy bars. That injury was all her fault. Lily wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for her.

"What are you sorry for, I was the one being stupid," said Lily as she sat down on the edge of Alice's white cotton bed.

"You were trying to help me," said Alice mournfully, "And I screwed it all up."

"You didn't screw anything up," Lily insisted. "Only Slytherins screw things up remember. And my leg is going to be completely fine. The nurse said it would take only about 24 hours for the magic to completely fix everything and then I'll be good to go. You, on the other hand look dreadfully ill."

Alice shrunk her position to make herself seem smaller, she tried to say something positive but Lily's statement really was true. She did look worse than ever. Her eyes drooped and skin radiated an awful pallor like she was deep in a fever. Not to mention she was terribly cold.

"Would you like to play wizard's chess?" said Lily as she explained to Alice that she too would not be allowed to leave the hospital for a while.

Alice nodded eagerly, as she much enjoyed wizard's chess. Lily brought out the board her parents had left behind and set it up in front of Alice so that she could sit on the other side of the bed. She was very anxious to play and was curious as to how good Alice would be. She turned out to be a formidable opponent, though Lily won most of the rounds. As the youngest in her family, she'd learned every trick in the book. Wizard's chess was the one thing she could outsmart even James at.

Though wizard's chess distracted her mind for a little while, Alice couldn't help but wonder if Emily would ever come by to check on her. It wasn't like their last interaction had been pleasant but she was still her sister. In fact, Emily wasn't thinking much at all about Alice at all at the moment. She was too busy trying to catching up on her History of Magic homework instead of nodding off and falling into another hallucination.

Last night, Emily and her friends had snuck out to drink firecoal which produced vivid hallucinations for wizards and were not intended for minors. A year ago she would have been completely disgusted with herself for doing so but it was a week into the first semester of her sixth year and she was already dealing with a horrible hangover. The thought of her little sister turning into a werewolf was finally gone from her mind and now all she had to focus on now was what order Voldemort's horcruxes had been destroyed in and by who they were destroyed by.

After the second wizarding war, the information about horcruxes had become more publicly known as people tried to piece together the downfall of the Dark Lord. As far as the ministry knew, no one else had been able to successfully create a horcrux since that of Tom Riddle or else there was special security protocol around destroying it. No one had however, making Emily wonder why. If people Tom Riddle really wanted to live forever, why hadn't he placed his soul in something less obvious like a button or a shoelace. A ring and a diary seemed to obvious to Emily who couldn't fathom the stupidity of someone who would place their soul in a living snake.

If Emily wanted to live forever, she certainly could try it. She had in fact killed somebody.

What Alice soon learned about Lily was that she had a lot of cousins. Though she had to stay in her sectioned off room, Lily kept having to leave because her family had been told of her injury (though not the origins) and lots of redheaded people were popping by to say hello. Alone by herself for a while, Alice decided to write a letter to her mother because she was getting very worried despite Emily assuring her that she was fine. She sent her love as well as a package of chocolates Lily had given to her by owl when Nurse Longbottom stopped by to ask if she needed anything.

By the end of the day, Alice was feeling a lot better, though still looked physically ill. Nurse Longbottom gave her a bowl of warm soup for dinner and Lily came by to tell her goodnight and that she was free to go back to the common room as her leg was completely healed. Nurse Longbottom insisted that Alice at least stay one more night but might be able to return to her classes in the morning. This disappointed her because after spending the day with Lily Potter, she'd be sad to be alone again.

That night, Alice lied awake for a long time, finding sleep difficult to come by. Her mind kept drifting to her transformation and the awful flashes of memories that were not her's but that of a monster. She was smashing into walls, scratching at herself, digging into the wood below. Her body ached just with the thoughts. When a crash sounded from outside her private sector, Alice almost thought she'd imagined it because she was so consumed in her memory. She tried to convince herself it was just Nurse Longbottom, but she knew that to be false since the nurse had gone to bed hours ago. Cautiously, Alice eased herself out of bed and crept to the window on the door.

In the dark, empty infirmary, a tall figure was rummaging through drawers and creeping through the beds. Shakily, Alice grabbed her wand and clutched it tightly in the palm of her sweaty hand. What was this dark figure looking for? Alice ducked down as the figure turned and she could feel her heartbeat quicken like a racehorse. She knew that face; it was Professor Hogan, the charm's professor. He continued his search and Alice crept back into bed. She wasn't sure if she should do something. Professor Hogan was her teacher after all; he couldn't be doing anything that sinister, even though it was the middle of the night and he hadn't turned on any lights.

Alice pulled the white sheet down over her head and curled up on her mattress. A brave Gryffindor would go out and face him; she told herself, but she couldn't do that; not to her professor. With a burst of restless energy, Alice pulled herself out of the bed and walked over to the window again just in time for her to see the charms professor grab Lily Potter's blood sample and leave. At least he was gone; Alice told herself, however confusing the professor's actions may be.

After a poor night's sleep; Nurse Longbottom checked in on the ill faced Alice and with a sigh told her that she was free to return to her lessons. Alice thanked the nurse and grabbed her books after changing from the white hospital gown, back into her Hogwarts robes. On her way to breakfast, Alice stopped in the girl's bathroom to check her appearance and freshen up a bit. When she saw her reflection however, she got a bit lightheaded.

Alice's skin had gotten even paler and had a sick, yellow undertone. Her eyes were bagged and there was a thin red scar running down her cheek and cutting across her ash blonde eyebrow. She didn't look as bright eyed and rosy cheeked as she had before the transformation and Alice didn't think this new look suited her. It made her look more weary and less juvenile. She hoped Professor Banks wouldn't think to much of it.

Lily was already sitting with Rowan and Serena at breakfast when Alice arrived after brushing her teeth and combing through her hair. They too noticed Alice's new complexion but chose not to comment on it.

"Lily says she thought you went home this weekend," said Serena with a gossipy voice. "Are you homesick already?"  
"No," said Alice timidly. "My mom isn't doing very well so I went to take care of her," she explained- which technically wasn't a lie since her mother had been dealing with a lot of anxiety.

"Oh," said Serena taken aback. She looked apologetic. "Anyway," she said. "This weekend Rowan and I talked to these third years. They said they would bring us back Honeydukes on the first Hogsmeade trip if we helped one of them get a date with this Hufflepuff."

"Nice," said Lily who personally loved Honeydukes more than the Queen.

"Hey I need to talk to you," said Alice to Lily. When they got a chance to be alone Alice rushed to explain to her about Professor Hogan being in the infirmary and him stealing her blood sample.

"Why my blood?" Lily wondered. "That's so strange. I wouldn't expect something like that from him. He seems so nice."

"Exactly," said Alice a little frustrated. "Everyone thinks he's so nice but I don't know why. He's got this thing about him."

"What do you mean?" said Lily.

Alice sighed, she didn't know how to explain it, but every time she interacted with the guy she got strange chills and an urge to get away. "Forget it I guess," said Alice dismissively. Surely the professor hadn't really broken in and he was just stopping by with permission from Nurse Longbottom. That's what Alice told herself any way. She had other matters pressing on her mind, like how she was going to make up that detention with Madam Rosencrants.


	13. Mermaid Hair

Chapter 13: Mermaid Hair

As it turned out, Madam Rosencrants was not too happy that Alice hadn't shown up to her detention. It took a note from Nurse Longbottom and a lengthy lie about the illness of her mother to convince the Quidditch teacher that she hadn't had a choice in the matter. Even with that settled, Madam Rosencrants was unusually harsh on Alice and had her sit in the dark storage closet and write down serial numbers on the new training broomsticks that had just arrived. By the end of it, Alice had a cramped hand and a fussy attitude which she carried back with her to the common room.

From what Alice had learned, the scars of a werewolf never healed, so no matter what magic Nurse Longbottom applied, the thin scar running down Alice's cheek was irreversible and a must have been self inflicted injury during her transformation. Werewolves tended to do that if they were left alone with no humans to hunt. Rowan later commented on it but Alice played it off like it had always been there, she had just gotten lazy about using makeup to conceal it. The lie worked well enough.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was making Alice nervous because she didn't really want to see her uncle again; but when she arrived, she learned that he wasn't there. Instead they had a friendly sub who Alice didn't recognize but claimed she taught Muggle Studies to third years and up. Most people took this as a chance to goof off since the sub didn't really assign them anything but Alice was busy worried about why Donovan wasn't there. Had something happened to her mother, forcing him to return to her? Surely she would have been notified.

"Hey Alice," said Peter, leaning over her desk. He had a crooked smile and innocent eyes like he just set off a prank. "Where'd you get that cool scar?"

"I've always had it," Alice said instantly.

Lily, who was sitting in the desk next to Alice alerted to the situation and took the moment to introduce her cousin; one of the many Weasleys.

"Alice have you met Louis," she said, turning to another Hufflepuff boy Alice had seen before in some of their classes together. Unlike most of her relatives, this boy had silvery blonde hair and a very angelic, almost pretty face. Lily explained later that this was because he was part Veela.

"Hi," said Alice shyly.

"Hello," said the Veela boy politely. He didn't talk much but Peter filled the silence with his excitement for the flying lessons that were going to be offered the following weekend. Alice and Lily looked at eachother and cracked up bit remembering how poorly Madam Rosencrants would treat them if they showed up. Peter laughed too and pretended he knew what they were talking about.

In potions that day, Alice successfully was the first one to finish her potion and brew it correctly. Professor Rosier came by to check it and then walked away after simply nodding her head. Alice shrunk in dismay, she'd been hoping to at least win the house a few points. The potion had been really difficult after all.

Alice decided that she must be crazy because everyone else in the school seemed to be in love with the tall dark Professor Hogan and she couldn't stand the sight of him. Every time he walked into the classroom Alice felt like she should be on her guard but everyone else just smiled and cheered at every charm he performed. It didn't help that she wasn't much good at the class so he kept having to come over and help her. She didn't like it when he stood so close to her.

The next time Alice saw Professor Donovan Banks was on Wednesday. She was feeling better by then and had a bit more light in her eyes but Donovan still looked weary as he cast an eye over his youngest niece. Whatever he was thinking however, he didn't share with Alice. Without an explanation as to why he was missing on Monday; Professor Banks began class before Alice could even say hello. Her uncle was obviously not in the best of mood.

Alice had been temporarily banned from the Astronomy tower because of the little flying incident but by that Saturday it had been a full week so she was allowed to race back up the stairs. She was happy to find it empty because from there she could watch the flying lessons she'd decided not to take part in. Lily had gone; which Alice called crazy but she could spot her light red hair glowing like embers in the sun. From the tower she could also spot Nova's jet black hair who also had decided to partake in the lesson. She looked as sulky and sour as ever. The other day she'd been impeccably rude to Alina; another Gryffindor before shoving her against a wall. Alice had been too afraid to say anything though and ran off to tell Serena and the others.

In the growing weeks Serena Cahill had become increasingly cold and distant from the other three girls. She hated the fact that both Alice and Rowan swarmed around that stupid Potter girl and no one was really paying any attention to her anymore now. Hadn't it been her who'd faced down Nova in that dungeon? The others didn't seem to remember that at all. As the September days turned into weeks, Serena became more sour faced and opinionated at the increasingly popular Potter girl.

"Hey Alice," said Lily one bright sunny Saturday. The redheaded Potter was sitting on a hill with a few of her many cousins, including the silver blonde Veela boy; Louis. "Look what James got me," she said, opening her cupped hands and allowing a small golden snitch to fly out.

James Potter, Lily's brother; Alice had learned was the seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She'd learned this after they attended the first quidditch match of the season together last weekend. He was very good Alice thought, besides the fact that Gryffindor had inevitably lost to Slytherin. Nova had been very quick to brag about it even though she'd played no part in the victory which Alice found annoying.

"Catch," Lily said, tossing the golden snitch into the air. It flew towards Alice who reached up and laughed as it dodged out of the way and spun off towards Louis.

"Excited for the Halloween feast?" asked Lily with an insightful grin on her face.

Alice hadn't forgotten the feast. She knew she'd miss it though because Halloween would fall the night after the October moon; putting Alice out of commision. It was okay though, she told herself; Halloween was never one of her favorite holidays anyway.

"I've got something the night before," she said. "I don't think I'll be able to make it."

Lily looked confused; then seemed to understand. She gave Alice a pitiful look just as a glimmer of gold zoomed by and the snitch snapped back into her hand.

"Hey! Emily," said Andrew; running to catch up with the beautiful brunette in his class.

Emily didn't stop walking. Andrew had been following her for a full two minutes now and the kid was really on her nerves. She didn't want to talk to him or ever see him again; especially after what happened the other night. He was unclean, smelled of fish and covered in acne scars. The boy's robes were three sizes too big and he wore dumb glasses that made his face look dopey. If Emily looked up stupid in the dictionary; Andrew's face would be right there.

"What," Emily snapped; finally turning around to face the boy. Her long hair glimmered in the afternoon light.

"Your hair," said Andrew mesmerized. "It's so beautiful-"

"Have it then," said Emily; gathering her wavy mermaid her in her fist and her wand in the other. "Scorchify," she said and suddenly her waist length hair was gone. She bundled it in her hand, "I said have it," she screamed at the now fleeing Andrew. Emily through her hair on the ground and ran a finger through her still smoldering choppy cut that now fell just above her shoulders. The pile of hair in the grass looked like a little bearded nome had died just before the wind came to blow it away.

Alice Turing wasn't doing so well. It was seven days before her second moon and Lily had begun supplying her with wolfsbane potion again. The Potters hoped that given the extra few days; this time the potion would work. If not however; Alice would still be protected in the Whomping Willow and they'd take extra caution to make sure no one followed her. Alice still hadn't met this famous Harry Potter; though she was very nervous to. Everyone in the wizarding world seemed to know who he was and now he knew about her. She didn't like the feeling of someone unknown knowing about her illness.

When Lily started slipping the grey vials to her again; Alice resolved to take them as she was given so that she might remain conscious during the moon. She hadn't known loosing her mind would cause so many injuries and deeply regretted putting Lily and herself in grave danger. Her body also, couldn't take too many scars or else people would start to question where they came from. The scar that cut through her eyebrow was already unattractive enough.

Alice saw her sister again while in the Gryffindor common room that night. She had to do a double take however because the girl sitting by the fire looked nothing like the Emily Alice knew. Her mermaid hair was singed just above her shoulders and she had a dark smoldering look on her face. Her eyes were bagged yet glimmered darkly in the firelight and she looked like she'd aged years since Alice saw her last.

"What do you want," Emily said, avoiding her sister's eye contact.

"I want to know if you're alright," said Alice. "What happened to your hair?"

"I cut it, do you like it?" Emily said with a dollish expression. She lifted up a strand of charred brown hair and a few more strands came loose.

"You look really tired," admitted Alice. She wanted to ask why her sister hadn't visited her in the hospital wing but she decided not to. "Just get some sleep," she said. "Take care of yourself."

Emily didn't say anything as her sister left but imagined a world in which the bite hadn't happened. Her sister would be normal, Emily wouldn't be a murderer, Lilah and Georgia would still be her friends, her Dad would come home safe, her mother would be sane- and Andrew would be dead.

That night Alice dreamed of a silvery white rabbit running through the woods. She was seven years old again and she chased the rabbit through the trees; dodging stones and running through grass. Her blonde hair flew carelessly behind her in the breeze and Alice laughed as the white rabbit skipped across a rocky terrain and ducked somewhere into the branble.

"Where did you go?" Dream Alice called to the rabbit; who could be nowhere to be seen.

The silvery white rabbit jumped out of the bushes and ran until Alice was out of breath. It turned and up ahead Alice saw the Whomping Willow to which, the rabbit started to make a mad dash.

"No!" Dream Alice called after the rabbit as she knew the old tree would attack the poor creature. She waved her arms; hoping to attract the rabbit's attention but it ignored her and sprung toward the tree.

Miraculously, the rabbit dodged the tree's incoming branches and dove into a rabbit hole, right at the base of the tree's roots. Alice knew this rabbit hole to be the passageway to the Shrieking Shack. Where was this rabbit taking her? With curiosity; Dream Alice dove after the white rabbit and then, Real Alice woke up.


	14. Alice and the Rabbit Hole

AN: Thank you so much to American Animagus for the amazing review!

Chapter Fourteen: Alice and the Rabbit Hole

Thursday came all too soon and Alice found herself preparing for another transformation. She'd taken her wolfsbane potion this time and was desperately hoping to have some peace tonight without so many injuries. Lily was helping her too, reminding her to eat when she was so distracted, and helping her stay on top of her classes by scheduling time for them to both do their homework. A year ago, Alice imagined herself studying with Emily but now her sister cold hardly be found in the common room. She didn't know where her sister disappeared off to.

Nurse Longbottom was happy to see Alice again and bustled about her; worried about how thin Alice had gotten. She was thin before but now she just looked sick.

"Eat some chocolate," Nurse Longbottom said, breaking open a bar and handing it to Alice.

It wasn't that Alice was giving up on food; her mind was just so worried and anxious the week before a transformation that food became a chore.

Alice changed into a fresh white gown and followed Nurse Longbottom to the Whomping Willow where she had a vivid memory of the silvery white rabbit running through the forest. It had been like watching a ghost- only the silvery creature was so much brighter and more powerful. As she knelt down and slid herself into the hole, Alice wondered if maybe the rabbit would come out again and she'd find it down here. It was horribly lonely waiting for the moon to rise.

The white hospital gown had gotten dirty on the way down and Alice stood up to dust herself off. She trailed into the Shrieking Shack and again saw all the bits of broken furniture and torn wall paper. A part of her wanted to spruce the place up a bit and make it less depressing but she knew if the potion went wrong, then she'd be back at square one.

It was hard waiting for the moon to rise. Alice curled her knees under her chin and huddled in a corner of the room. She was cold and shivered as she closed her eyes. Her body was shaking with fear. Every part of her wanted to get up and run away but she knew that wouldn't help. All she could do was wait.

Transforming was painful. Alice screamed until her voice turned into a howl as she felt her insides sharing and ribs grow violently outwards. Her small hands turned into claws and she felt every inch of her quake until the shifting inside of her stopped. Alice closed her eyes and curled up in a corner, shaking with humiliation and physical pain. The wolfsbane potion had worked, she was still herself- but she was so afraid. She didn't want to look at what she'd become so she shut her eyes tightly and focused on sleep.

The morning came and Alice was still fearfully awake. She hadn't dared open her eyes however because she was afraid she'd see the body that had attacked her and Emily so many nights ago. She felt her skin get warm, like she was melting away a tough outer layer and when at last she dared open her eyes; she saw human hands and pink little toes on her feet. Relief washed over her entire body like a cool wave.

Alice uncurled herself shakily and looked down to see that her white gown had been shredded again. Up on the piano across the room she'd laid out a clean one and so she got up as slowly as she could. Her head spun and her insides were sore but she wasn't injured like the last time. For that she was immensely grateful. Quickly she changed and sat down again to catch her breath. Soon Nurse Longbottom would be down to fetch her.

Back in the infirmary; the nurse insisted Alice lie down for a little and at least try to sleep. The walls of the hospital wing were decorated with paper ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. Alice had almost forgotten that it was Halloween.

"I can't sleep," Alice insisted. "I'll miss all of my classes today."

Nurse Longbottom furrowed her brow. "I can't allow you to go back to class Alice. You look very ill. Please come lie down."

Alice sat one on one of the beds. She was very tired but if she missed class, the teachers would think she was cutting and might give her detention.

"Neville told me that you have his class first thing this morning," said Nurse Longbottom. "He's agreed to let you make the work up after school this evening. He can even come by the infirmary. I'm sure your other professors will do the same."

"Not Hogan!" Alice insisted, remembering that she had charms after herbology. "He'll be very upset because I'm already doing quite poorly in his class."

"Calm down Alice," said Nurse Longbottom. "We'll make it work. If you're doing better I'll let you go down after lunch so you can make your afternoon classes. But you have to promise to eat," Nurse Longbottom said sternly.

"Yes ma'am," Alice said. She was lividly hungry and had a whole month to worry about the moon.

The nurse made Alice a large breakfast with eggs and waffles and served it to her in bed. She gave small blonde girl a kind motherly smile before ducking out again to fill out some more papers.

A little while later, the headmistress; Professor Carlyle walked into the infirmary with a very worried air about her. She didn't give Alice a second glance and went straight to Nurse Longbottom's office. Curious, Alice sat up and saw her talking to the nurse in hushed tone through the office window. Nurse Longbottom stood up abruptly and rushed out of the infirmary with the headmistress without saying another word.

Alice was confused but could do nothing as she lied motionless in bed. She wondered what emergency could have happened that required the headmistress herself to appear in the hospital wing. Whatever it was, it was soon distant from her thoughts as Lily Potter burst into the infirmary with a worried expression on her freckled face.

"Alice!" she cried rushing over to Alice's bed. "Are you okay?"

Alice forced a smile and assured her that the potion had worked and she was feeling just fine. "Is it lunch time yet?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Lily. "I tried to come see you earlier but this was the only time I could get away from lessons.

"Great," Alice said, shyly slipping out of bed and climbing to her feet. "Nurse Longbottom said I could maybe go back at lunch and since she's not here-" Alice hesitated, knowing she shouldn't leave without the nurse's permission. She had Defence Against the Dark Arts next though and she didn't want Uncle Donovan to worry. "I can probably leave," she concluded following Lily out of the infirmary.

On their way to the Great Hall, Alice told Lily about Professor Carlyle appearing in the infirmary and how panicked she'd been. Lily thought that was strange and agreed how intriguing that was.

"Too bad you missed charms this morning though," said Lily. "Professor Hogan never showed up and neither did a sub so we all just got to do whatever we wanted."

Alice was relieved she wouldn't have to make up another class and remembered she'd have to visit the greenhouse after school.

A sick feeling washed over her as she entered the Great Hall. There were more ghosts than usual flying about the place and jack-o-lanterns floated from the ceiling but that wasn't why she felt so queasy. Her body felt like it was crashing internally and needed to lie down but Alice couldn't let that be apparent or else she'd miss more of her lessons.

Rowan Avery was waiting for them at the Gryffindor table. Her long black hair shimmered as she waved the pair over and she greeted them with a toothy white smile.

"I got that Hufflepuff girl to go out with Marcus," she said, bubbling with pride. She looked at Alice. "Where were you this morning?"

"Sick," said Alice, which wasn't a lie.

"That sucks," said Rowan. "Too bad you missed charms," she said and repeated what had happened with no adults showing up.

Rowan's cousins Mia and Tom had started leaving her alone after they'd found out she was friends with Lily Potter. If there was one thing the pureblood families hated and feared, it was the Potters. Rowan definitely planned to use this to her advantage in the future.

"Where's Serena?" Lily asked, out of the blue.

"Over there," Rowan said, nodding to another cluster of older Gryffindor's. They were all laughing and listening to Serena like she was some rare pet they'd collected. "I guess she didn't want to sit with us today," Rowan said, picking up her fork and twirling it in her peas.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine with me," she said with a small grin. It had been a while since she and Serena Cahill had gotten along.

After lunch the Gryffindor first years went to Defence Against the Dark Arts where Professor Banks taught them a dry lesson on pygmy puffs in which no pygmy puffs were actually involved. Alice loved pygmy puffs and been really looking forward to playing with one. Her uncle however, merely glossed over the lesson stating that more depth would be put into the topic their third year if they decided to take Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Hagrid.

When class was over, Professor Banks pulled Alice aside and studied her ill stricken face. Alice's heart sped up in fear that her uncle was about to say something like he knew about her secret but he changed the subject completely.

"Your sister, Alice," said Donovan worriedly. "She isn't doing very well with all this stress as a sixth year."

"No sir," said Alice quietly.

"I'm very worried about her mental well being, but she won't talk to me," Donovan continued. "She's stopped showing up for her prescribed therapy appointments which makes her going against the law and well her hair-"

"Yeah she cut it off," said Alice. "I don't know why."

"I don't want to worry you," said Donovan, putting a hand to his subblely chin. "I'm sure your sister will be fine, but if there's anything you know that might help us help her, it would be very wise of you to tell me."

Alice considered this for a moment. She was almost jealous that Uncle Donovan was so worried about Emily. Her sister was so precious and beautiful that since she'd been so dramatic and cut her beautiful hair, everyone suddenly only cared about her. Uncle Donovan didn't catch onto her secret, despite him being the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher- which made it all the more odd. She almost screamed at him just to really look at her.

"I don't know," Alice said, shaking her head. "I wish I could help her," she said very honestly.

Potions was fun that day. Professor Rosier held a contest to see who could make the best shrinking potion and Alice had succeeded. She'd almost won but in the last round the Professor had decided that Nova's potion made the quill shrink smaller than hers, which Alice thought was a total rip off.

"You totally should have won that," Rowan said afterwards. "Professor Rosier is just being biased."

Lily agreed as the three of them trailed out of the dungeon together.

Surprisingly, Serena hadn't even showed up for the last two classes. Later someone told them that she'd been seen skipping class with a couple of third years.

"Ridiculous," Lily commented, shaking her head.

Alice was very hungry and was excited that now she'd be able to attend the Halloween feast. After a private lesson with Professor Longbottom, she, Rowan and Lily all sat down together in the now dark and skylit Great Hall and cheered as Professor Carlyle rose her hands. Above them, all the floating Jack-o-lanterns lit up at once and floated through the air. The Hogwarts ghosts made noise and a creepy ghost with nearly no head floated past Alice and took off her head to greet Rowan. She giggled at the sight.

"What? It's funny," said Rowan eyeing her friends expressions.

The feast bloomed to life and everyone dug in. Alice was grateful that she'd gotten her monthly transformation out of the way so she could eat a lot. She loaded her plate with pastas and rice with lots of butter. It wasn't long though before there was an interruption and the entire room fell silent.

With a clanging thrust, the Great Hall's door flew open and Martha, the school caretaker cried out to the entire school. "Students back to your dorms," she screamed, her plump rounded figure shaking with exertion.

There were screams as everyone ran for the exits. Something was happening, Alice didn't know what but as the head boys and girls rallied everyone together, she, Lily and Rowan stayed close and bunched together.

Everyone was lead back to the Gryffindor common room but no one could even hear themselves think because everyone was talking so loudly. Alice wondered what could have happened that caused the caretaker to get everyone to safety. Was there something dangerous at Hogwarts? People around her speculated, some saying it was Starfire, the terrorist organization Alice's father fought against.

"Everyone quiet," shouted Mallory Marsh. People listened to her since Marsh was very tall and scary. "All of you would be dead right now if the threat was in the castle," the prefect quipped.

Some people grumbled but that only seemed to upset Mallory even more. "People can probably hear you all from the other side of the castle with that volume," she said. "Quiet down. Go back to your dormitories. We'll all wait here until further instruction."

"But what if the threat is in the castle," said a voice that Alice soon recognized as James's.

"The threat isn't in the castle," Mallory retorted. "Hogwarts is very secure. Nothing can get past all of our security measures."

There was some more worried remarks but everyone agreed that the safest place to be was probably in bed. After all; Hogwarts was the safest place in the world, or at least it had been at one point. Alice scanned the room for signs of Emily to make sure she was safe but as the girl's filtered up the stairs, she was nowhere among the crowd. Even when they got back to the dorms, her older sister wasn't in her bed. It wasn't until the next day that Alice saw Emily in the morning and that was after the news had gotten out to the parents.

Andrew Welsh's body had been found dead in the boy's bathroom.


	15. Murder at Hogwarts

Chapter Fifteen: Murder at Hogwarts

Owls went out delivering news that a child had died at Hogwarts and there was much panic and worry as people mourned the loss of Andrew. Some parents even took their kids out of school. Alice was worried that Professor Carlyle might shut the school down completely as there was much speculation but after an early weekend, classes resumed as usual and Alice and her friends were forced back into the pattern of grueling schoolwork.

Andrew Welsh had been a Gryffindor and so for the next week the Great Hall was decorated with red and gold flags and memorials. Alice saw Nova kick over one of the red ropes once but other than that people were very quiet and respectful. Nobody used the boy's bathroom where the body had been found however. Apparently the story was that Martha, the caretaker was cleaning the bathrooms when she'd stumbled upon the boy covered in blood. Wizards didn't usually draw blood so that was unusual. Then she'd run straight to the Great Hall to tell everyone to hide. The staff wasn't too pleased with the way she'd caused panic, but the lady was having such a fright.

At first Alice had thought the murder of Andrew had something to do with Professor Carlyle's visit to the Infirmary but the timing didn't make sense. The headmistress would have had the body removed long before Martha came through to clean. Had there been two horrible incidents last night? Alice's other problem was Emily- who hadn't appeared until the morning after Andrew's death. Her older sister was scary quiet the next few days, which made Alice feel even worse for suspecting her of anything.

As more investigations into the murder of Andrew Welsh occurred, even Harry Potter appeared to talk to some of the students, specifically Alice. He hadn't wanted to have this conversation but he knew he just needed to clear his mind of the matter before he took his theory any further.

"Good evening Alice. It's good to finally meet," said Harry Potter, motioning for the small blonde girl to sit across from him. He'd never met this girl before but just by looking at her small feeble appearance, he knew his theory was wrong. Still he was required to question all suspects. "How are you?" he said with a smile.

"Good," Alice trembled. She couldn't believe she was talking to Lily's dad, the most famous wizard to ever live. He had been the one supplying her with wolfsbane potion and was the reason she'd survived the past full moon without a scratch. If it wasn't for him, she'd be lost and could have hurt herself or others. She wanted to thank him but all she could do was stare and wonder if she could see his scar beneath his silvering black bangs.

"Alice I just wanted to talk to you about this whole investigation," Harry said. "Welsh's body did seem to be mangled by some kind of creature and if I'm not mistaken the moon was-"

Alice's face turned to shock as she realized what he was about to ask her. "No," she said immediately, her face draining of color. "It wasn't me I swear. I was in the Shrieking Shack. I took the potion. It worked. Please don't send me to Azkaban," she squeaked. Alice imagined being hauled off to live in a dark cell for the rest of her life while Dementors encircled her. It wasn't a life worth living.

Harry's face fell with sympathy. "Relax, relax," he said to the shaking girl. She had a thin scar running down her face that was visible when her face hit the light. "I just had to ask," he said. "I'll talk to Nurse Longbottom, I'm sure you're telling the truth. There are many spells that can make a person look like that, I just wanted to make sure," he said.

Alice stood up. She was almost in tears. She looked like such a fool in front of the bravest Gryffindor of all time.

"It was very good to meet you Alice, I'm sorry it had to be like this," Harry said, shaking Alice's hand. "I hope your sister is doing well."

Alice nodded and thanked the man before she even processed what he said. Her sister Emily was not doing well, in fact she was so unwell she'd even gotten called into her own Uncle's office.

"Emily," said Donovan. He was sitting in his office surrounded by floating little paper birds. "Have a seat."

Emily walked in and sat down across from her uncle. He studied her closely, noticing her wavy hair had been but even more jagged and unconventional. Donovan was not one to quickly dismiss his niece's new behaviors and worried she'd lost quite a bit more of her mind than was normal of her age. He also knew that Emily was not in good merits with Andrew Welsh before his tragic death.

"I was wondering," he said slowly, as Emily refused to meet his sapphire blue eyes. "Is there anything you'd wish to tell me?"

Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise. "No professor," she said after a pause. "Nothing at all."

Donovan sighed and wished he could think of something more to say but how outlandish of him would it be to accuse his own niece of something so vulgar. No, just because she'd done it accidently before, did not mean Emily Turing was again capable of murder. She was not a dark wizard, she was a Gryffindor and a top student as well. Emily had a bright future and it wasn't his place to ruin that chance for her over what must just be a rough period in her life.

"I learned a new spell uncle," Emily said brightly as she stood up.

Donovan's hopes lifted a bit as a part of Emily's old personality began to shine though. "What is it?" he asked her.

"Watch," she said. Emily turned and pointed her wand at the crate of pygmy puffs Donovan was going to use to surprise the first years. "Sectum Sempra," she said and thrust her wand towards the crate.

One of the pygmy puffs began to cry as blood began to rake out of it's body. Soon it was dead leaving Donovan in a silent state of shock.

"It will be really useful against dark magic when I take Harry Potter's internship this summer," said Emily turning back to smile at her uncle.

"That it will," was all Donovan could think to say.

Two days before Andrew Welsh's funeral, his body went missing. There was a riot storm as everyone on staff went mad searching for it but it was never found and the parents were very angry. The funeral was suppose to be on school grounds and a monument was going to hang in the courtyard for him but all they could do was nail up a placard with his name on it and put a little bench out to observe his memory. Alice visited the site along with the other Gryffindors in a midnight candle service that was held before his funeral.

November brought with it colder weather and the goldening of trees. One of the teachers quit, or at least that was the story. It was the muggle studies lady who'd subbed for Donovan last month. Rowan turned twelve which was highly celebrated after Alice and Lily found out she was trying to hide it. They both saw a birthday card from home arrive by owl so the jig was up after that. Alice attempted to knit her a scarf which ended up looking more like a one sided sock and Lily wrote her a song about jello, which was Rowan's favorite food.

 _I just wanted to say hello,_

 _Because I know how much you love jello,_

 _If I knew how to play cello,_

 _I would be a real good fellow,_

 _So for now I'll just be mellow,_

 _And find you some yummy jello_

Lily finished the song off with some jazz hands and Rowan laughed and clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"I love it. Thanks guys," she said, wrapping the lopsided red scarf Alice made around her neck and pulling her dark hair back into a loose ponytail. She felt so grateful that her friends had decided to do something for her. It was honestly better than any other birthdays her parents had thrown her as a kid where only pureblood kids were invited to attend. Rowan always felt like those kids never really cared about her.

The rest of November was a blur. Alice continued to do very well in Potions and Astronomy as well as her other classes, but when it came to charms she was somehow very lacking in skill. Luckily for her, Professor Hogan stopped seeming to care. Whenever Alice did something wrong he would just send Rowan over to help her who'd actually gotten quite good. She liked having Rowan help her more because Hogan still gave her the creeps.

"He looks a little sick don't you think," said Alice one day after class. Professor Hogan had looked even paler than usual and his usual charm was absent. He'd seemed so distracted during class that they'd hardly even finished the lesson in time.

"I didn't notice anything," said Lily, letting her snitch fly out of her pocket again and zoom down the hall.

Alice sighed as Lily and Rowan sped up and ran down the hall to catch the flying snitch. She jogged to catch up with them, apologizing as she sped against the traffic flow.

The November moon was at the end of the month and fell on a particularly cold day. Alice found her transformation just as horrid and uncomfortable as the last, but this time she was able to shut her eyes and sleep for a few hours during the night. Nurse Longbottom found her cold and crying at the end of the night and made her some hot cocoa and insisted she take the next day off. Alice could hardly protest because she was growing ever so weak. If her mother saw her in this state, it would be straight to St. Mungo's.

As December arrived, most people stopped caring and only wished the time away. They dreamed of Christmas break and of honeydukes candy. Alice however; had many things to fret over. Every night she made herself study at least two hours for the midterms that were soon approaching. The rest of her time she spent worrying over the December moon which would happen while she was at home. How was the wolfsbane potion- that was suppose to be brewed fresh, reach her in time every night in such cold weather. Even if she did keep her mind and transform quietly, it was a ridiculous thing to hide in a house so full and busy during Christmas.

The other problem on Alice's mind was her family's well being. Emily seemed to have cheered up a bit in the past month which was relieving but her mother had hardly replied to any of her owls and her father was still missing. Donovan told her that he'd be coming to their house for the holidays and her grandmother would be flying in from France but Alice almost wished they'd just stay away. Her parents weren't around anymore and Alice just wanted to be with them. Christmas only made her want to go back in time and be a normal family again. Not a hunted down, infected, crazy bunch of wizards.

"Let's go to the astronomy tower," said Lily one evening while Alice was studying. She and Rowan had been throwing bits of paper into the fire and was quite bored. Even though it was after hours, she still wanted to be up there and see the view from above.

"Can't," said Alice scribbling something with her inky quill. "Got to keep studying."

"You're studying harder than the fifth years taking their OWLS," said Lily, "Give yourself a break. Let's go."

"I want to go," said Rowan, who'd never been up to the astronomy tower.

"We can't," Alice insisted. "It's after dark anyway. We'll get caught by Martha and get detention. I can't get detention right before midterms."

If Alice lost a night of studying because Madam Rosencrants made her write down serial numbers again, she was sure to fail every class.

"We won't get caught," said Lily, "Come on, I know where my brother hides his invisibility cloak."

"Invisibility cloaks don't work," Alice said, reciting something she'd copied down from Defence Against the Dark Arts class. "They might work sometimes but they always give out whenever you really need them."

"Not the one my brother has," said Lily with a grin. "Come on, I'll show you."

Boys weren't allowed in the girl's dorm but girls were allowed in the boys'. Lily, Rowan and Alice tip toed into the room and noticed it was mainly empty. There were a few kids lying in bed or talking but none of them really seemed to mind that three first year girls had just entered. The most apparent difference between the two Gryffindor dorms was the smell. Everything else looked the same.

"God it smells awful in here," Rowan said, throwing back her black mane and pinching her nose.

Alice agreed. She followed Lily over to what must be her brother James's trunk and tapped her wand against it, muttering something she didn't hear. The bottom of the trunk moved and Lily slipped open a compartment from the bottom. From it, she withdrew a long silvery looking cape.

"James would kill me if he knew I took it," Lily said with a face that made Alice imagine she was rather enjoying this.

Lily wrapped the cloak around her body and she disappeared instantly. "Boo," she said, sticking her red head out of the cloak making it look like her head was hovering in midair. "It's a generational thing I think," she explained, taking off the cloak and showing it to her friends. "My dad said something about passing it down through the eldest kid. I'm just borrowing it though," she said with a sly grin.

"Right," Rowan said returning the impish smile.

"I really don't think we should do this," Alice said softly.

"Come on, it will be fun," Lily said. "I think we can all fit under this," she threw the cloak over Alice and Rowan's head and they all squeezed together. Lily and Rowan giggled but Alice felt uncomfortably claustrophobic. Her friends insisted though, so she followed them out; under the guise of the invisibility cloak.


	16. Reichenbach Falls

Author's Note: Thank you American Animagus, BellaEllaWriter and Deveroux13 for the reviews! Also- wanted to make clear that Peter from Hufflepuff has nothing to do with Peter Pettigrew- I just liked the name :) Thanks for reading y'all!

Chapter Sixteen: Reichenbach Falls

It was warmer than usual that December night as Alice and the others climbed the Astronomy tower stairs. That didn't mean it wasn't freakishly cold outside, only that Alice didn't mind climbing to an even higher altitude. Lily lead the way up the winding stairs. She had her wand outstretched and was lighting a path through the thin silvery fabric of her father's old invisibility cloak. Alice and Rowan stayed close behind her and Alice constantly brushed up against Rowan's ocean blue coat. It was difficult to climb stairs so close together.

Lily took the invisibility cloak off once she was sure no one was around to see them. They climbed the last bit of the stairs and froze as they realized they weren't alone on top of the Astronomy tower. Quickly, Lily threw over the clock again and the three girls disappeared into the dark shadow of the stairwell.

From behind Lily's shoulder, Alice could see a dark haired Slytherin boy talking to Professor Rosier who's long silver hair sparked in the moonlight. They both drew their wands suddenly and Lily gasped before she could stop herself.

"That's my brother," she whispered, staring at the Slytherin boy who now hovered his wand at a Professor. They were both standing uncomfortably close to the edge of the tower.

Lily moved closer to hear what they were saying forcing, Alice and Rowan to speed up to avoid popping out the end of the cloak. She was utterly transfixed and had an almost terrified expression as she watched her older brother address the potions professor so disrespectfully.

"I know you're part of Starfire," Lily's Slytherin brother was saying to Professor Rosier. "I heard you talking to that muggle studies teacher right before she disappeared and I know you were connected to Andrew Welsh's death."

"You insufferable child," Professor Rosier snarled. "I have no connections to those morons. You're risking expulsion if you attack a teacher, Potter."

Lily's brother's face grew more angry. "I won't be expelled," he spit. "I'll be a hero. Just like my father was."

"Your father was a delinquent who just so happened to be born with a special scar," Professor Rosier said.

"My father was a great man," Lily's brother bellowed, causing Lily and the others to tense and huddle even closer together. Lily looked like she was about to do something stupid but Alice grabbed her arm before she could blow their cover.

"I know you were one of them," Lily's brother said, he was shaking now. "I'll turn you into Carlyle. You'll lose your job and the school will be safe."

"Oh you mean this," Professor Rosier sneered, pulling back her sleeve and revealing an inky black tattoo on her forearm. It looked like a skull with a slithering serpent coming out of the mouth. Alice recognized it as a Death Eater's mark; she'd seen one in the History of Magic textbook. This meant her potions teacher had been one of Lord Voldemort's companions. She'd fought against Hogwarts in the war. What was she doing as a potions teacher now at this school?

"A mark like this is from the past," Professor Rosier continued. "But it's also from my future." Her face darkened maliciously. Suddenly Alice's face froze in confusion.

Professor Rosier's wand got so close to Lily's brother's throat that it was like she was inching him off the tower. If they didn't do something quick, the three Potter children would soon be down to two.

"Ready to take a fall from the Astronomy Tower Albus Severus?" Professor Rosier said. She laughed at her own remark, though nobody else seemed to find it the least bit funny. "You know, I was there the night your namesake died. Pity."

Albus was shaking, terrified as his feet inched slowly backwards. His wand had dropped to his side and he seemed to completely devoid of any plans. Lily turned to Alice, her brown eyes bulging with fear.

"You're smart- do something!" she whispered desperately.

Alice was afraid too. Any spell that might be useful in this situation vanished from her mind and all she could focus on was Albus's feet getting ever so closer to the edge. Suddenly the Astronomy door banged open and Professor Carlyle strode in. Her age pinched face was full of fury. Relief flushed over the girls under the cloak as Professor Rosier froze and stopped inching forward. Her wand drew back and she stared paley at the professor.

"Maeve, that boy is a Potter," Professor Rosier bustling forward. "We can't lose another student- and this one indispensable. I'll have his memory modified and take him down to the dorm."

"What-" said Albus but before he was giving another glance by either of the women, he was hit by some kind of charm. Suddenly he collapsed forward into Professor Carlyle's arms.

Lily, Rowan and Alice looked at eachother in confusion. They'd thought the headmistress was there to save them but could she be friends with Professor Rosier all along? Each of them held their breath as Albus was carried back down stairs by the headmistress. They heard the clomping footsteps of the witches carry up the tower until they disappeared into the night. It was a long time before any of the girls dared speak.

"What just happened," Lily said, ripping the invisibility cloak off their heads.

"They're death eaters," Alice squeaked. "Our headmistress, our potions teacher they all worship Voldemort."

"Voldemort is far beyond dead," said Rowan. "Everyone knows that. And just because Rosier might have been a Death Eater doesn't mean she's still evil."

"Did you see what she almost did to my brother?" Lily cried. "Everyone at this school is bloody mad. I bet it was her who killed that sixth year boy."

Alice thought this made sense. At least, she didn't want to make room in her mind for the other possibility that had been gnawing at her for a month now. Rosier must have killed Andrew Welsh, there could be no other explanation.

Rowan, on the other hand was very scared her friends might be right about the Death Eaters. For most people, it was a bragging right if their parents had fought in the Wizarding War, but for Rowan, it was a darkly kept secret. Her parents had after all, been on the losing side. Her aunt had lost their life that night leaving Uncle Marvolo to later move in with her and her parents and remarry to Aunt Imelda. A family full of Slytherins, and now her.

"Starfire started with the remains of Voldemort supporters," Alice said softly. "They terrorized England for a year and then went into hiding," she paused as if she didn't want to finish her sentence. Then, "What if Hogwarts is where they're hiding?"

Lily met her eyes. "We need to tell my dad."

"The ministry will never believe us," Alice said rationally. "We're a bunch of eleven year olds- and a twelve year old," she said to Rowan. "Carlyle is the headmistress and Rosier is a professor. We'll look like we've gone barking mad."

"Everyone in the ministry knows me," said Lily matter of factly. "There's no way they'll think I'm fibbing."

"Are you really willing to risk it?" said Alice.

Lily's shoulders slumped. She knew deep down that without any proof, they had no power at all. "Do you think Albus will remember anything?" she said.

Her friends shrugged. It wasn't a matter they'd be able to solve tonight.

Morning came and Lily went to go visit Albus in the Slytherin common room. Alice and Rowan stayed back anxiously and waited for her to return. When she did, she had a grim expression on her face. Already, Alice knew it was bad news.

"Didn't remember a thing," Lily confirmed. "All he did was mutter something about a time turner and then went back to sleep. I can't believe he's never late for class."

Alice could hardly concentrate on her studies the next few days. What if Carlyle and Rosier had something to do with the disappearance of her father? There were two, possibly more women in this school who were not who they seemed and if that wasn't enough to set Alice on edge, she still didn't know what she was going to do during the December moon. Again, her sister Emily wasn't any help. She spent every night parting with the other sixth years. What they were partying over, Alice didn't know. She tried to talk to Lily, but they were almost never alone anymore because of Rowan.

Midterms came and Alice had to sit through a grueling hour and a half being watched by Professor Rosier. It was unsettling, as her gaze fell over her, Rowan and Lily. Her eyes almost looked convicting, if that were possible. Alice finished her potions midterm as quickly as she could and turned it in without saying a word. When it came time for her charms; Alice had studied particularly hard but for some reason she couldn't even get Professor Hogan's attention. He tested everybody by having them perform certain charms individually but when Alice trembled by herself in front of the class, he was scribbling in his notebook the entire time.

"How's it going Alice," said Peter after the charms test. He had a big grin plastered upon his freckled face and was walking alongside the silvery blonde Louis, one of Lily's cousins. "Think you did well on Hogan's exam?"

"I don't know," Alice said truthfully. She timidly tucked back her golden wisps peeking from her bun. "I don't think Hogan likes me to be honest," she said.

"That's crazy," said Peter, "Hogan likes everybody. I didn't even know the levitating charm and he said he'd pass me."

Alice kept quiet, knowing nothing she said would convince people of the bad vibes she got from the charms professor. It was probably all just in her head anyway.

Everyone was packing for holidays. With the weight the midterms had been putting on Alice's shoulders, she was relieved to not have to worry about them anymore. She was still anxious though as to the mystery behind Professor Rosier and the headmistress but feared arousing any suspicion without any evidence. She had an uneasy feeling leaving the school because it meant the castle would be mostly empty with only a few staff members around to guard it.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into the station to take everyone home for Christmas break and it's roaring engine screeched to a stop and white smoke billowed endlessly out of it's funnel. Snow melted as it fell onto it's fiery red exterior and kids cheered as the ticket home was finally here. Alice, Lily and Rowan boarded a carriage together and later, Peter and Louis came by to join them. With Nightlock safely wrapped in her arms, Alice securely locked her trunk up in the overhang above and put her kitten's carrying case at her feet.

Rowan Avery was not thrilled to be going home. After all, it would be the first time she'd have to face her family after being sorted into Gryffindor- not to mention she'd made friends with a Potter. Mia and Tom would be able to bully her however they liked without Lily around and Rowan was actually frightened of what her uncle might do. Uncle Marvolo had quite the temper and it tended to get out of control whenever he spoke of the Potter family. He blamed them specifically for the death of his late wife.

Alice kicked her feet softly underneath the carpeted train seat. Outside, the world had started to speed up and trees became blurs below. She'd considered not even jumping on the train. Instead she could stay at Hogwarts and get through her transformation there. But her mother was ill and Alice needed to see her. Her dad was still gone and Alice didn't know how she was coping with most of the family gone for so many months. The thought of seeing her mom again was the only thing that kept Alice from running away.

Across from her, Rowan looked very worried. Her grey eyes were cloudy and her cheeks didn't have that usual rose glow to them and her silky black hair concealed most of her face. She was wearing the scarf Alice had knit for her. It looked kind of silly and lop sided but Alice was so grateful Rowan appreciated the effort. Alice wished she could think of something to say that would make Rowan feel better. The whole air in the carriage seemed off and unfortunately gloomy.

The only one unaffected by the somber moon seemed to be Peter. He was cracking jokes and making faces in the window to the nearby carriage. When the trolley lady came by, he bought everyone liquorice wands; which Alice hardly nibbled before she felt tired. Nightlock licked the other end and Alice decided she'd better not finish the candy. She stroked the kitten's black fur quietly.

"Alice," said Louis, who was sitting next to her. "I think you dropped this." He picked something off the ground and handed it to her, his icy blue eyes meeting her own for a moment.

Alice felt something cold slip into her hands and looked down to see a silver rabbit, engraved on a necklace. It hung by a chain, and for some reason looked so familiar to Alice; though she could place where she'd seen it before.

"This isn't mine," she said, giving the necklace back.

"It is not mine either," said Louis, with a slightly French sounding accent. "You should keep it," he told her. "It suits you."

Alice took the necklace and clasped it around her neck. She pulled out her wavy blonde hair and the necklace hung perfectly around her neck. She felt slightly guilty however, because who ever lost it must have spent time looking for it. Perhaps she'd turn it in later when they got back to school. For now, the necklace had an odd kind of calming feeling, like it was meant to belong to her in a way.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9 and 3/4. The breaks screamed against the tracks until it came to a halt, jerking Alice, Louis and Peter back into their seats. From the windows, Alice could see loads of Hogwarts parents waiting for their kids at the station and wondered if she could spot her mom. She gathered her things and waited for everyone else to clear out so that she'd have enough space for Nightlock's carrying case. Then, she Lily and Rowan made their way out of the train.

"Happy Christmas," Alice said, giving Lily and Rowan each a hug as they reached platform.

"Happy Christmas Alice!" cried Lily with a smile and wave as she disappeared into the crowd. Alice saw her run towards a red headed lady carrying a large briefcase.

"Happy Christmas Alice" Rowan said. Her lips formed a smile and then she gave another hug before she too disappeared into the gathering of people.

Now Alice needed to find her own family.


	17. The Godmother

Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Y'all keep me going!

Chapter Seventeen: The Godmother

As more crowds washed away, Alice became more anxious to find her mom. She'd reunited with Emily who'd apparently been looking for her in the back of the train but with their mom nowhere in sight, Alice was growing a little inpatient.

"What if something happened to Mom," Alice said, clinging childishly to her sister's coat so that they didn't get separated. The fabric felt firm and comforting beneath her fingers.

"Nothing happened to mom Alice, just be quiet, there's so much noise I can't concentrate," said Emily irritably.

Emily and Alice wandered about the train station until the crowd thinned so much that the two of them were getting quite desperate. Nobody in Alice's class was still on the platform and her luggage was weighing very heavily on her arms. She wanted to sit down and take a break, but Emily insisted they keep walking around the barrier until they found someone to take them home. Her new chopped cut was pulled back in a short ponytail so that it was well hidden from immediate view. Alice guessed this was on purpose to hide from their mother.

Suddenly, a thin, black haired lady appeared though the platform barrier wearing a smart blazer and dark tinted glasses. She was slightly out of breath from running moderately though the station and glanced at her broad faced watch. The woman was running very late. She spotted the small blonde girl standing with her sister and made her way over to them.

"Alice, is that you?" said the black haired woman.

Alice turned around and her face broke into a broad grin. She reached out and gave the woman a hug.

"You've grown so much since I last saw you," said the woman. "You were this big when I saw you last." She held her hand out about four feet from the ground.

It had been a while since Alice last seen her Godmother Astoria.

"Are you here for Scorpius?" Alice asked, scanning the crowd. She'd met her godmother's son before but hadn't really interacted with him at school much since he wa a few grades above her- and in Slytherin.

"Yes," said Astoria, "I'm running a bit late, but I'm also supposed to take you home," she said. "I er- got a message from a friend," she glance up at Emily and smiled. "So good to see you Emily, you look very well."

Scorpius ran over and awkwardly accepted a side hug from his mom as he stared at Alice and Emily. His white blonde hair was slicked back and Alice saw his face flush with embarrassment.

"What happened to our mom? Why can't she take us home?" asked Emily, who hadn't taken her eyes off pure blooded Astoria.

"Actually, I'm going be taking Alice to the Scamander's," said Astoria with an unconvincing air of peacefulness. "Emily, I'm suppose to take you to the Time House, your mom and brother are already there waiting," she explained as her dark eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" said Emily and thoughts of fear raced through Alice's mind. "Why is Alice being separated?" Emily demanded. "Who are the Scamander's, and what a Time House?"

"I'm sorry girls," said Astoria, "I'm just the messenger. I promise you all are safe right now, just come with me."

Alice looked timidly up at her sister. Emily's eyes were full of fire but didn't have time to argue as Astoria had already turned to leave the platform. They melted through the 9 and 3/4 wall and emerged in the busy London train station where six ministry officials were waiting by. Each of them turned as Astoria walked by and proceeded to break and surround the group like body guards walking in military formation.

"What's happening mom," Scorpius said to Alice's godmother as the three children looked nervously around at the ministry men all dressed in black suits. Astoria hushed him as now many of the muggles in the train station had taken notice of the formation. Some were heard speculating that Astoria was some kind of fashion model and needed protection from her fans. Others thought they were all cast in a movie.

Day broke through the arches outside King's Cross station and two ministry back cars pulled up to the curb. Out of one of them stepped a silver haired man with a black cane. He was dressed nicely and looked very much like his son Scorpius. The boy ran up to his father and whispered something about being frightened by the ministry but Alice pretended not to hear.

"Get in the car son," said Mr. Malfoy grimly. "We'll be home in a minute."

It wasn't often that wizards used cars but the ministry still used them to transport underage wizards to and from places from time to time. The men who guarded the Turing sisters had been given direct orders from the Minister of Magic to take the older one to a safe house, and the other to the Scamander's. Why the little girl needed to go to a place as insane as that, no one seemed to know. There would be no stops and no time to delay. It wasn't easy to keep the children safe in broad daylight.

"I'll be going with Alice," said Astoria to her husband, giving him a quick kiss.

"Be safe," Mr. Malfoy said as they both ducked into different black cars. Mr. Malfoy's door slammed shut behind him.

One of the ministry officials took Alice's trunk and loaded it into the back of the car and reluctantly let her hold onto Nightlock's carrying case. She held bravely to her kitten's cage and insisted it stay with her. Alice was angry and scared. She hated this and wanted to go with Emily and see her mom. Shakily, she slid into the cold leather seat of the car and placed Nightlock's case in her lap. Astoria smiled at her reassuringly.

Astoria Malfoy, formerly; Astoria Greengrass was Lucy Turing's closest and only cousin. While Eric Turing's best friend from Hogwarts was Emily's godfather, Astoria had been chosen to look after Alice if anything were to happen to the Mrs. and Mr. Turing. Unfortunately, danger had aroused for the parents, and now Astoria felt that it was her duty to ensure Alice's safety. She took off her dark shades revealing her blue eyes and tried to look brave as the car sped down the London highway.

The Scamander household was far outside the city of London and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Alice held onto her seat as the ministry care pulled up onto a gravely, frosted driveway and parked in front of a large, bright blue house surrounded by wire fences that resembled animal pens. The wire pens were all deserted however, as a thick blanket of snow coated everything. It was an unusual sight to see in such a deserted area and Alice wondered what kind of people could own such a house.

The screen door at the front of the house banged open and a middle aged woman with Rapunzel like blonde hair stood in the doorway. She was wearing a blue dress with a stained white apron and had odd eyes that gazed starily at Alice as Astoria lead her up onto the porch.

"Hello there," said the strange blonde woman to Alice in a distant sounding voice. "Come inside, it's much warmer in here. Good to see you Astoria."

Alice and Astoria stepped inside the bright blue house and were mesmerized by the colorful paintings illustrated directly onto the walls. There were portraits ranging up to ten feet tall of people and wizards and towers. A small sheep looking creature ran up to Alice's feet and started barking at Nightlock who hissed from inside her cage.

"Heel, Achilles," the strange woman said picking up the small sheep creature and petting it's fleecy head. "I was just making some hot chocolate for my boys," she said, waving her wand and conjuring a tray of drinks. "They just learned how to apparate you know- didn't even have to pick them up off the train."

Alice hoped she didn't know this woman's children if they went to Hogwarts. She was still confused why she was ordered here in the first place.

"My name is Luna," said the woman kindly. "Please take a seat by the fire dear, I don't need you freezing to death."

"Luna," Alice repeated with a hollow tone. She'd definitely heard that name before but this couldn't be...? Luna Lovegood had been one of the great heroes of the battle of Hogwarts. The entire Ravenclaw hall had been named in her honor.

"Mrs. Scamander, you know the circumstances- correct?" said Astoria, taking the blonde woman aside. "She is to return to the Time House by Sunday at the latest. Draco will be by later with the-"

"Got it," said Luna, nodding her head. "Don't worry. She'll be plenty safe."

"You be safe," Astoria said, crossing her dark eyebrows. She went back over to Alice who was sitting in alone in an arm chair. "Goodbye Alice," her Godmother said as she kissed Alice's forehead. "You're in good hands now. Take care."

Alice wanted to protest but she didn't want to make a fuss. Her Godmother got up and waved again before disappearing out the door leaving Alice at the hold of strangers.

"Drink that hot chocolate," Luna said in a distant sounding voice. "It won't hurt you."

Alice took a mug and sipped the warm drink. She was warm enough sitting by the fire and drinking hot chocolate but she was shaking for another reason. Finally she asked the question that had been gnawing on her mind.

"Why am I here," she asked.

Luna gave her a sympathetic expression and sat down in another arm chair. This one had a strange stuffed bird sticking out of it. Alice had carefully avoided that one.

"My husband and I-" Luna explained carefully. "We're friends of Harry Potter," she said. "He came to us a few weeks ago and needed a place for you to stay during the moon and we're both animal keepers and so we offered him our basement."

"What," said Alice as her muscles clenched. There was no way Lily's dad had gone and told all these people- including her Godmother. "Why am I not with my family," Alice said, her voice rising with panic. "I don't understand, why can't I at least be with my family. I'll take the potion- just-" Her heart was beating so fast now it could rival a hummingbird.

"Alice," Luna said, forcing a smile. "It's okay. My husband and I are dedicated to your privacy."

 _Why am I not with my family?_ Alice wanted to scream but she knew she was too small to do anything. Luna still hadn't answered her question.

"Alice your mother was told of what happened," Luna said calmly. "She's just a little overwhelmed at the moment. She let Harry know it would be best if you had a little distance for the moment."

Alice stopped listening after that. Her mind was spinning in so many directions it felt like she needed to punch a wall. She didn't even realize how tightly she was gripping the rabbit necklace until it broke off of her neck and the chain slid out. Luna was talking about how her family was now under serious threat from Starfire and had been moved to a safe house but Alice didn't care. Her mom knew what she was. And her mom wanted some distance.

Luna let Alice into a bedroom that she hardly even looked at before falling onto the bed and crying for what seemed like hours. Everything was ruined. Alice hated Harry Potter. He was never trying to help her. He'd only sabotaged her and now her life was ruined. Screaming, Alice grabbed a pillow and stuffed it over her face. She was never going to leave this room. Never. Then she'd never have to face how embarrassed she was at what a wreck she'd become in front of the Scamander's.

Alice didn't know how to apparate, neither was she allowed to use magic outside of school but she knew she couldn't stay here. She wouldn't stay here. She didn't want to be some puppet her mom and Harry Potter could just move around. Alice was leaving this stupid house and their stupid cages and stupid sheep looking dogs.

Firmly, she threw open a window and was blasted with cold air. There was no way Alice could make it back to London with such freezing temperatures outside. Desperately, she ran over to the room's closet to look for another coat but instead she found something even better. In the dusty corner was a broomstick from some outdated model but Alice suspected it would still work. She grabbed it and looked back at her trunk which would be too heavy to take with her. She took Nightlock out of her cage and apologized to it as she tucked the kitten into the front of the coat. Then, without any further plans and tears freezing to the sides of her cheeks, Alice Turing threw her leg over the broomstick and shot into the air.


	18. Pure-blood Manor

Chapter 18: Pure-blood Manor

Because the broom was such an outdated model, Alice moved a lot slower through the winter sky then when she'd jumped off the Astronomy Tower. She was thankful for this because it gave her more control as she teetered amateurly though the sky. Her heart was hammering harder than ever however as the turbulence kicked up and Alice almost fell. There was no way she was going to make it all the way back to London, her mind told her. Her hands felt like they'd been frozen to the handle of the broom and Nightlock scratched disapprovingly at her chest. This might have been a terrible plan.

Thankfully since they were in the middle of nowhere, no muggles saw a skinny little girl sailing through the air on a broomstick but as soon as she got to London, she'd have to find another method of travel. Alice screamed as the broom dropped twenty feet. Her eyes snapped shut and she braced herself for impact but at the last moment she remembered to jerk up and flew fifty feet higher.

Ice was getting in her eyes and snow was beginning to fall. She remembered a bubble charm Professor Hogan had taught them which would come in really useful right now if she'd been allowed to use magic. More wind fought against Alice as she sped forward on the broom but she pushed onward anyway. Soon she could see the tops of buildings and the city of London was in sight.

Alice didn't know how to land, her mind went blank. She prepared to crash and grabbed Nightlock to her chest as her body slammed into a pile of snow. Rolling over and catching her breath, Alice grabbed the broom and noticed a highway of cars nearby. Alice prayed no muggles had seen her fly in.

Her wand had rolled into the street and for a second, Alice thought she saw two lights coming towards her. Through the snow, she realized she was right. A large purple bus was escalating quickly in her direction and screeched to a halt right in front of her. Double doors flipped open and a woman with spiky red hair looked around and then down at Alice who was still on the ground covered in snow.

"What you doing down there?" Asked the woman, crouching down in front of Alice.

"I fell," Alice replied and meekly picked herself back up, gripping her wand and Nightlock steadily.

"What you fall down for?" the woman said. She seemed awful curious and asked Alice her name as Alice climbed gratefully onto the bus. Alice had ridden the Night Bus once before but it had been a very long time ago. She'd forgotten sticking your wand in the street could summon it.

Inside the bus there were lots of white rolling beds, not attached to anything and they jostled about as Alice sat down on one and pulled her broomstick up with her. It was literally one of the only things she had now.

"Where you off to Alice?" said the spiky haired woman.

"The Avery residence," Alice said. Without even realizing it she'd been planning to go there all along. She desperately wanted to see Lily but she also didn't want to see her father so Rowan might be the only person she could run to.

"Ah the Averys," said the bus woman. "They're a scary bunch. Heard they all worshiped You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort?" Alice asked and the woman nodded. It wasn't common for people to refer to the Dark Lord as You-Know-Who anymore. Curious as it was, Alice had never heard Rowan talk about her family like that before. She knew her family was from Slytherin, but she hadn't really pondered what that meant. Suddenly, Alice didn't know how she felt about going to their home.

The Night Bus shot off like a bolt of lightning, sending Alice's bed spinning towards the opposite wall. She clung onto the headboard and Nightlock hissed angrily. The kitten wasn't enjoying Alice's adventure though the winter sky and now aboard this crazy bus. Alice tried to be as small as possible by tucking herself into a ball but the spiky haired lady still asked her loads of questions that Alice did her best to avoid.

"Did you fly on that broomstick...- Are you from Hogwarts...- Where are your parents?" The list went on. Alice tried not to listen to her and it worked because the woman soon stopped talking.

Alice was getting very car sick. The motion of the Night Bus did not sit well with her stomach and she felt like any minute she was going to puke up a storm. Finally, the bus slammed to a halt in front of a large, gloomy stone manor covered in snow and surrounded with a tough iron gate. The spiky haired woman leaned in as she voiced Alice's thoughts.

"You'd better hope the Avery's like you," she said dismally. "I wouldn't want to be the unlucky chap that tries to break in there."

Alice stepped off the bus and clutched her stomach as her head spun. The broom she'd taken from the Scamanders dragged behind her in the snow and she crept over to the iron fence. This was a horrible idea, she told herself. She couldn't just show up at the Avery's doorstep and expect them to take her in. That would be so pretentious of her. Maybe Alice could find a warm building so sneak into tonight.

"Alice?" said a voice.

Alice turned around and saw Rowan approaching her. She was wearing a big fluffy coat and was walking a big shaggy black dog on a leash. The dog seemed completely unaffected by the cold.

"What are you doing here?" said Rowan, running up and giving Alice a hug.

Alice backed up. This plan was so stupid. She should leave now. "Hi Rowan," she said. "I um..." Alice held her breath and then told Rowan what happened, leaving out the parts about being a werewolf. She was nearly in tears again by the time she finished.

"Oh my god," said Rowan. "Your parents sound worse than mine. Come inside, just hold on." Rowan reached over and took off Alice's Gryffindor tie that was peeking outside her coat. "I'd say you're a Slytherin if you can help it," she said with a dark expression on her face.

Rowan put her wand to the gate and it swung open. A large stone gargoyle leered down at Alice as she walked past and Alice felt like it was silently watching her.

The Avery Manor was huge and very well taken care of. The outside was made of a dark, grey stone that looked well polished and demonic. Inside, a large emerald interior sparkled at Alice and a mahogany stairwell lead up to Rowan's room. Rowan let her big shaggy dog off it's leash and it rushed happily around the lush living room, wagging it's black tail.

"That's Carina," Rowan said with a grin. "She's really old but still acts like a puppy."

Alice smiled as Carina ran up to sniff her hand.

"Who is this Rowena?" said a voice from the left archway. Alice turned to see a handsomely dressed gentleman with dark leering eyes and a balding head.

"This is my friend Alice," said Rowan. "Can she stay with us for a bit?"

The well dressed man raised his eyebrows and folded his arms. "What house are you from Alice?" he asked, shooting a sharp glance at Rowan.

"Slytherin," Alice lied.

The man softened his gaze. "Oh good," he said. "I was afraid Rowena had brought back one of those silly little Gryffindor mudbloods. It's good to know she is at least a good judge of character. Yes you may stay, though I would prefer to speak with your parents if you plan to stay until Christmas."

"It's okay Uncle Marvolo," said Rowan, leading Alice up the mahogany staircase. "She has permission from them."

Alice followed Rowan into a large bedroom with three huge glass windows that together looked out over London. Nestled between them was a little window seat that Carina ran up and lied down on.

"That's good girl," Rowan said, scratching behind the dog's ears.

Rowan's bedroom was spotless and clean. A pearly purple four poster mahogany bed was up against one wall and a desk and several doors leading to closets lined the walls. There were pictures everywhere of famous actors Rowan thought were cute and the Althenian Princesses who she adored. Soon, Rowan planned to have Gryffindor decorations in as many places as possible.

"Is that all you brought?" Rowan asked, looking at the broom in Alice's hand.

Alice nodded dismally and Rowan gave her another hug. "I am so sorry Alice," she said as she tried to make her feel better. "You're always welcome here, and honestly, Christmas will be way more fun now."

Alice thanked Rowan again but still felt awful for basically forcing them to take her in. Now she was like a parasite, drawing off of Rowan's family's good fortune.

"My parents are going to call us down for dinner soon," said Rowan, taking her magenta coat off and revealing her robes. "You might want to put something else on. Come see my closet."

Rowan lead Alice over to a door that lead into a walk in closet full of clothes. Alice gasped and was impressed by how many Althenian brand names she had. Rowan even had her closet organized by color.

"Try this," Rowan said, handing Alice a simple velvet green dress. Alice remembered seeing it on one of the covers of the Althenian Magazines. It must have cost like a hundred galleons. The price only made Alice feel worse.

The girls both changed and Rowan was excited to braid Alice's hair. She weaved in golden string which made Alice feel extra special, though completely unworthy. When she looked into the mirror she didn't see a scrawny blonde eleven year old werewolf. Instead she gazed at an elegant young heiress ready for a dinner party.

"Okay, don't pretend you're from one of the sacred 28," Rowan said as they sat on her purpley bedspread. "Everyone in my family knows every one of their kids so that won't work. I'd try saying your parents are on holiday and you were going to stay in the castle, but I invited you home."

"Won't that get you into trouble though?" Alice asked.

"It's fine," said Rowan with a grin. "They've already grounded me for life because I got put in Gryffindor. Only exception is taking Carina on walks. I don't think there's much else they can do."

"They grounded you because of that?" said Alice aghast. "That's not fair at all."

"It's fine," Rowan said again, though she didn't sound fine.

Alice and Rowan came down for dinner which was held in a large dining room with fine furnishings. Mr. Avery sat at the head of the table next to his brother Marvolo and across from his wife, Mrs. Avery. On one side of the table sat the dark haired twins; Tom and Mia who glared at Alice as she entered. Immediately, she wanted to run away. Rowan pressed her forward though and her parents smiled as Rowan and Alice sat down.

"Alice it's so good to meet you," said Rowan's mom graciously. "Rowan's uncle tells us you're in Slytherin house, congratulations. Can I ask your blood status?"

Rowan looked pained, like she was physically injured by her mother's embarrassing comment. Shyly Alice did her best to look unaffected by the woman's sharp question.

"Pure blood for the most part," said Alice meekly. "My mom comes from the Greengrass family and my father's line is from the Crouches at one point- I think," she said though her father's heritage was more of a stab in the dark.

"Barty Crouch, you were a friend of his weren't you?" said Mrs. Avery, raising a poised eyebrow at her husband. A lady came over and poured water into her glass.

"That was Barty Crouch Jr, dear," said Mr. Avery but he died a while back.

"How unpleasant," Mrs. Avery replied. She took a sip of her water and the same woman came by to pour Alice a drink. She watched as the water trickled out of the pitcher and ice cubes cascaded into her glass. She felt like an imposter.

Rowan's parents looked very much like their daughter. Her father was tall and thin with a black mustache and a slicked back hair. Her mother was tall and aged but still beautiful. She had streaks of silver running down her curtain of dark locks. All the Averys looked much alike. The twins; Tom and Mia looked like boy and girl clones of each other and their father; who Alice learn was called Uncle Marvolo was a balding middle aged man with aged creases running along his forehead.

Rowan's parents were very eager to hear about Tom and Mia's days at Hogwarts and they talked a lot about old Slytherin traditions as they ate their meal. Alice however, couldn't shake the twin's gaze as they stared at her throughout the course of their conversation. It unnerved her to the point that she couldn't even concentrate on the meal. They knew, Alice realized. Both of them were third year Slytherins and had never even seen her before in the common room. Alice's throat tightened.

"Alice do you like the Slytherin dorms?" asked Mrs. Avery.

Alice's voice caught in her throat. "Um," she stuttered.

"She loves them," interrupted Mia, leaning forward in her chair. "She tells me how much fun it is to sleep under the lake all the time."

Alice didn't relax. Mia was smiling at her now with a devilish gleam in her eyes. Tom seemed to be doing the same. Nervously, Alice tucked back her golden wisps that had flown out again. _What were the twins playing at?_

"We know what you are," Mia said, as she and Tom cornered Alice and Rowan after the meal was over. Alice's heart sank.

"What do you want for it Mia?" said Rowan, flicking her eyes in annoyance.

"Hey I saved your friend's butt back there," Mia hissed, crossing her eyebrows and leaning towards Rowan. Tom grabbed her arm and she regained her cool composure. "I want another rat Rowan," she said. "A lab rat."

"No," Rowan said immediately. Alice didn't know what they were talking about. "Not Alice."

"Daddy!" Mia shouted in a high pitched voice.

"Shut up!" Rowan said, grabbing Mia and putting a hand over her cousin's mouth. She looked back to Alice who had a confused look upon her face. "Fine, you can use me," she hissed. "Just nothing deadly okay?"

"Deal," said Mia, with a smirk.

"Wait," said Alice. "What are you agreeing to?"

"It's nothing Alice, don't worry about it," Rowan said. She grabbed Alice's arm and tried to get her to follow her back up the stairs.

"I could use her instead," said Mia, folding her arms evilly.

"I'll do it," said Alice, firmly. She was tired of being a useless wall flower. If she needed to pull her own weight then she'd do it, even if she had no idea what she was getting into.

"No Alice," said Rowan. "You don't know what she wants from you. Mia is a very..." she paused, " _Experimental_ \- potions chemist. She likes to try her concoctions out on live victims. You don't want to be her guinea pig."

"You were willing to," said Alice defiantly. It wasn't like her to be this bold, but as a Gryffindor she could not let her friend take another fall. "I'll do it," she said again to Mia.

"Good," Mia said. "Meet in my room tomorrow morning," she instructed. "Don't let Rowan persuade you otherwise."

Mia and Tom slinked off leaving Alice and Rowan to themselves on the stair landing. Rowan sighed and her forehead crinkled in anticipation.

"You shouldn't have done that Alice," she said softly.


End file.
